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hunn1e-bunn1e · 8 months

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Leviathan, Riddle & Idia - Past Cheat Reader

🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.

Here's a PSA from me; don't cheat on your partners. If you've fallen out of love with them, sit them down and talk to them about it and go from there. If you're doing it to hurt your partner, shame on you, you're an asshole. It's better to end the relationship than turning to infidelity. If you're unhappy break it off and focus on yourself for however long you need before looking for love again.

— Benny 🐰

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🐠 Leviathan was shocked, confused, worried and scared when he learned that you had cheated on your previous partners before. This poor demon is already has such low self worth; his mind whirled around with questions of if you would cheat on him as well. He would try to tell himself you wouldn't, but he's just a loser otaku; of course you'd leave him for someone else.

🐠 He'd lock himself in his bathroom and curl up in his tub thinking about how your relationship had been going since you started dating. How you acted around him and everyone else since you chose him and not his brothers, Solomon, Simeon, Barbatos or Lord Diavolo. But what if he's not enough? He's so jealous. So envious. Leviathan loves you so much but he can't help but wish he never learned what you did in the past.

🐠 You'd end up having to force your way into his bathroom to have a talk with him because he would refuse to leave for an entire week; surviving on his snacks. It would take a long time to get him to stop thinking that you'd discard like trash him at any given moment. He'd be a lot quieter with you and a lot more possessive of your time. Leviathan would likely always distrust you a bit after this.

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"Y‐you— you wouldn't cheat on me... r‐right? I know I'm just a gross otaku... b‐but you love me right? Y‐you're my Henry... I don't want to believe... No— I‐I can't believe that you would betray me like that. You wouldn't. Or... a‐at least I hope not..."

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👑 Oh dear. As soon as he finds out you've been unfaithful to any of you're previous partners, your relationship begins sour pretty fast. He'll avoid you for a few days after initially finding out. He'll strait up ignore you even; complete radio silence is all you'll get from him. But even after he stops avoiding you, he'll still be distant for a bit.

👑 The first words Riddle had said to you after days of silence was: "I thought you were different— that you were better than that...". He sat the two of you down and you both talked about it at length. Riddle expressed how he was now having trouble trusting you and how he felt insecure about the stability of your relationship. How; if you cheated an previous partners before, what's stopping you from cheating on him. He wondered if you loved him enough to stay faithful.

👑 It would take him a long time, but eventually Riddle would come to accept that, even though you had cheated on a previous partner, you're with him now and things were different. He reluctantly put his heart into your hands and expected you— trusted you to hold it close and keep it safe and never break it. Trey will make sure of that.

🌹•♡•🌹•♡•🌹•♡•🌹•♡•🌹•♡•🌹•♡•🌹•♡•🌹

"How... could you have done something like that? It's... wrong. I— I don't know if I can trust you after hearing that... but I love you... I can tell that the you from before is different from the you standing here in front of me now... so, I'll give you a chance."

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🎮 Idia would be at a loss for words. He's never had to deal with something like this before. It would be difficult for him to wrap his head around the fact that , you, his selfless and kind boyfriend, would go out of your way to hurt someone just for fun. In fact, he wouldn't be able to wrap his head around it. Idia would just try and rationalize it instead, thinking that the cheating must have been warranted. (cheating is never warranted)

🎮 Idia wouldn't acknowledge it after that. Well— he would, but he would never let you know that. He was so lonely all the time before you came into his life; he can't lose you now. So he pushes it to the back of his mind and tries to please you instead. Convincing you to stay with him in exchange for him doing anything you want him to. He'll never say no, because he's scared you leave him.

🎮 When you catch on to the change you'll have to get Ortho to help you corner him and sit him down to talk. You'd have to admit that you were in the wrong and work incredibly hard to gain Idia's full trust again. But eventually he'll loosen up. It won't be Idia that distrusts after this, it will be Ortho.

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"I‐I don't— I don't know what to say... I'm— I don't— Should we... break up then? I mean... I would leave me too... wait no I— I didn't mean that, please don't leave me. I trust you. I love you. Please stay."

🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.

Wanna see similar content? Check out my Maste‐rlist!

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catbountry · 1 month

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One of these days I'm gonna get completely zonked and write out an entire fucking essay on why Mister Metokur sucks and I don't like him, but I feel like I could just say "he kickstarted the internet dumpster fire that was GamerGate" and have justified my position completely.

So fucking tired of orbiting communities that talk about internet weirdos/drama and seeing creators kiss the fucking ring of some guy just because he's got a voice for radio and surrounds himself with people who are stupider than he is so he can toss them aside as soon as they inevitably do some stupid bullshit that he can make fun of and feel justified in doing so, like Sargon of Akkad and Ethan Ralph, all while lamenting that internet culture has changed since the 2000's and people on the internet like furries now more than they like otaku.

Oh yeah and he's using James Somerton's suicide note as an opportunity to expose Hbomberguy for shit he did nearly two decades ago and shame him for "troll's remorse." If I didn't highly suspect that this is another ploy by James to manipulate people into feeling sorry for him, I'd probably be more disgusted, but it proves this man just operates on pure spite. Like yeah, I get it, overly-performative troll's remorse is fucking cringe, but you're on a podcast with Null making jokes about "stinkditches" and saying unambiguously racist shit while laughing (in a video conveniently deleted from YouTube from September 17th, 2022). And if it weren't for Jim's army of asskissers, I'd probably be way more open about this sort of thing. But who's even reading my Tumblr at this point anyway?

The first time I remember being alarmed by him was that video he did on that creepy pedo who looked at photos of kids in bathtubs, and he was in a call with this guy and some girl said pedo was friends with, and Jim lost his patience and called her a "hole" and to shut up. People kiss Metokur's ass over this video. I don't even know if any action, criminal or otherwise, was taken against the dude and it was just an exercise in lording not being a pedophile over some deeply disturbed guy who probably had some kind of mental disability.

I am pretty much always going to have a fixation on strange internet people, internet drama, and horrifying nightmare people given unrestricted internet access. This is a character flaw of mine. I have tried to view these people more fairly in recent years, though to be honest, there's quite a few of them that are pretty goddamn hard to feel sorry for. But I also recognize a lot of my fascination was probably, at least partially, trollshielding; if I join in with the people making fun of these people, that means I won't be a target. It was a survival strategy learned from childhood and I'm not proud of it. But I also can't do the full troll's remorse because some of those people I talked shit about really were awful people. That doesn't make it okay when I would be snarky and judgemental towards people that didn't deserve it. Trying to stop a pedophile or helping shed light on a zoosadism ring doesn't make you a good person because even bigots hate pedos and people that torture animals. Congratulations on having the faintest resemblance of a conscience, it'd be nice if you could show that same outrage on behalf of black people and trans women. But we know you ain't doin' that.

Also I swear to god if somebody refers to him as "daddy Jim" and they're not taking the piss I'm gonna give them such a pinch.

P.S. James is very likely alive, btw. Who could have seen the serial liar and manipulator telling lies and emotionally manipulating people?

#drama #oops I accidentally a whole essay

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izvmimi · 1 year

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Lucky - Todo x Reader

cw: minors dni, crack, plot heavy with a little porn, otaku behavior (~3.5k words), mild violence mention, fem!reader

summary: you meet someone desperate to win a competition.

a/n: reposted.

Twenty-four-seven convenience stores are only convenient when you’re not the one working the shifts, you think as a yawn forcibly runs through your body, and you lean back into your chair, stretching your arms over your head. The digital clock directly across from your gaze, situated at the top of the glass door, states that you’ve now made it to the witching hours of 3 and 4 am. By now, everything is quiet, as most of the drunkards that leer at you from the corner of their eye as they stock up for the next few mornings have already found their way home or otherwise, and the rest of the city is fast asleep.

It’s hard to keep awake yourself, and you consider taking a nap, but alertness is probably crucial at a time like this - security cameras will only record a robbery, not prevent it. The doors aren’t locked after all, and even if this area is relatively safe enough not to require police, you’re still an easy target.

A little more than 3 hours. You switch the radio to a top 40 station and tap your foot idly with the music. It’s another Takada-Chan hit, something catchy and gooey about love in strange places that you’ve heard ad nauseam in the past week, but still has somehow grown on you. You glance over to the display shelf that has just three out of a previous stock of a hundred bags of chips with her face on the cover, flashing her winning celebrity smile. There’s something about a promotion that has made that particular brand so popular, but you neither remembered nor cared about the details. A backstage pass or fan-meeting? Either way, it’s none of your business.

At least, it isn’t your business until a figure that seems to appear seemingly out of nowhere barrels through your store. Your mind barely registers the ringing of the bell, but your eyes follow the shadow in shock, which turns out to be a young (?) man whose shoulders are hunched as he inspects every bag for a split second. Your legs freeze as does the rest of your body in disbelief as he tears each bag open one after the other, dumping its contents on the ground, then groans loudly.

“Fuck!”

He turns to you at the front counter, and you hold each other’s gaze for a split second, then he marches over with narrowed eyes, placing both hands on the counter.

You tense as every alarm bell in your mind starts to go off. This man is huge, doesn’t appear at all inebriated - rather, he smells alarmingly floral - and his eyes are narrowed in obvious irritation. At the chips? At you? What is it?

He’s dressed in plain clothes (a T-shirt and some jeans) so you don’t have a good inkling of how old he is, but he looks to be about twenties to thirties. He’s tall. He’s-

“Is this your entire stock?” He asks in a low voice. He’s grimacing but his language is somewhat polite, if not terribly demanding.

It takes you a few moments to understand what he means by ‘stock’, then you take a good look of his shirt. Fan merchandise.

There’s a sigh of relief that runs through your body finally as you connect the dots. This man is crazy but not in the I’ll kill you because it’s 3 am and I’m obviously a serial killer or actively psychotic type of way, you decide. You suck in air in your lungs, realizing you’d forgotten to breathe for the past few moments.

You clear your throat.

“If you mean, do we have any of the Takada promotional chips that you dumped on the floor, no, that was everything,” you reply, neutrally, trying to keep the still receding general confusion out of your voice.

He groans again, then, in a movement that shocks you, slams his forehead straight onto your counter with a loud enough thud that you find yourself yelping unintentionally.

He doesn’t move for the next few moments, and heart suddenly racing in your chest, you actually consider that this stranger might have just put himself into a coma.

What the hell is happening?

“S-sir,” you ask tentatively, hand shakily reaching for his shoulder. You hesitate first, but then you go ahead and poke him gingerly. He doesn’t rouse immediately but before you break out into a cold sweat, he rouses, and you can see that his eyes are filled with tears.

Your eyes widen as you decide this man is clinically insane. There’s pepper spray in one of the drawers that you reach for surreptitiously, but then he lets out a cry and rests his head again against the counter (this time thankfully not a slam), and continues to weep. Full body, grown sobs that look ridiculous on a man as thoroughly muscled as he is.

There is no amount of customer service training that can prepare you for this and you still have several hours left in this shift. You look around and of course, since it’s the butt crack of dawn no one else is around, so here you are, left with this statuesque man crying with a pile of crumpled chips waiting for you to attend to it.

This goes on for a full minute that feels like ten until you finally try again.

“Sir, I.. um, is there any way I can help?”

He rises again, slowly this time, and you notice the scar over his left eye, and wonder if it’s through antics like this that he got it. Rubbing his eyes, he murmurs something about losing his composure and trying another store.

“I need to see her,” he says. “Takada-chan is absolutely my type and obviously we’re destined to be together.” The genuine distress that you can feel in his words actually has you feeling somewhat sorry for him and before you realize, you offer up information you regret.

“We’ll probably have these back in stock two mornings from now… you can try again?”

That was your first mistake.

You’d barely had time to recover from that night before he showed up two days later, right at the tail end of your shift around 6am, in a similar frenzy. You watch the oversized man lumber in, scoop literally every bag off the shelf and dump them onto your counter. There’s no communication, just a startlingly fierce expression on his face, and somehow you understand immediately. Every bag you ring up, he opens and dumps on the ground, until the last bag turns out empty.

He frowns and you find yourself frowning with him.

“Please don’t slam your head on my counter,” you say in a small voice. Something about the statement stuns him out of his disappointed fixed stare at the mess on the ground and he looks at you again. There’s a short pause, and you fill it.

“Listen, I was afraid. I’m bad at phone calls,” you mutter. “Can’t be calling the ER.”

And he actually laughs. A full-bodied laugh that’s something like a bellow, something that’s hearty and way more fitting than crying like a child, and you find yourself cracking a smile, too.

He finally introduces himself, flashing rows of white teeth. He still smells oddly floral and the hand he stretches out for a handshake is as warm as you expected it to be, but his grip is a lot more gentle.

“Todo Aoi. Takada-chan’s future husband. Sorry to destroy your store.”

You raise an eyebrow but then grin.

“That’s fine, because you’re staying to clean it.” You point to a broom in the corner of the store. You were prepared this time.

Todo raises his own eyebrows in return but as you cock your head to the side, waiting for a challenge, he does as he told.

An otaku is not gonna intimidate you, even if he’s built like a brick wall. Maybe his plight is a little endearing, or even his earnestness, something like a sad puppy that is being nudged away from a toy by its owner’s foot.

But he’s annoying first and foremost if anything. You hope he comes to his senses soon.

—

Todo is unpredictably predictable.

“No luck?” You ask as you see him standing outside the store with the similar dejected expression you were starting to get used to, at the onset of your shift. It’s 11pm, and you’re wondering why he’s still lingering on the premises, looking upset.

He shakes his head, then motions you over to look at something on his cellphone. He has you move in almost uncomfortably close, and the floral smell is heavier than usual. There’s a headline that suggests that there’s only a couple grand prizes left - a set of VIP concert tickets with backstage passages and a ‘day date’ with her. You glance at him from the corner of your eyes and wonder if Todo winning could potentially be as much of a curse for her as it would be the ultimate joy for him.

This man is weird, but that too is none of your business.

He follows you into the store as you switch shifts and loiters, which you notice as your coworker hands you the keys. The moment the man leaves, Todo proceeds to buy up every bag in your store in his usual routine and as you ring him up, you find yourself asking:

“Why didn’t you just do this earlier?”

He doesn’t look at you but at the pile growing at his feet.

“I feel like you’re lucky,” he replies simply.

You stop and put your scanner down, giving him a confused look.

“You’ve won nothing,” you remind him. He stops too and looks at you, then shrugs.

“Yeah but I feel like I could.”

This makes no sense to you no matter how much you wrap your head around it, but it doesn’t change the fact that the thought runs through your mind after he leaves.

—

The idea wormed its way into your head deeper than you expected, because you saw him come through the doors, less of a tornado this time after multiple days of disappointment, you waved him over to the counter.

He looked around as though he wasn’t completely sure you were talking to him, then one hand shoved in his pocket, strode over leisurely as if he delighted himself in wasting your time.

“I have a gift,” you offered, pulling out a rolled up sheet of paper out of your backpack and placing it on the table. Another customer skirts by and gives you a dirty look as you excitedly unravel it and smooth it out and you whisper a ‘hold on’ to Aoi before ringing their things up hastily and sending them off. Todo gives them an annoyed glance that makes them shrivel as they hurry away.

“What’s this?” He asks, leaning over the table. By now, he hasn’t yet started his routine of buying every Takada-sponsored item in the store, and waits on you intently.

“A map.” You pull out a pen and circle a few already highlighted stores in the vicinity that based on a ton of research and online forums are thought to have been lucky.

“These are all places where previous winners from this promotion and other promotions have gone, so I thought you could check these places out first, instead of just coming here. Some of them are a little far out, but since you’re dedicated, I think this would work out well for you.”

You look up at him after your little spiel and find that he isn’t looking at the sheet of paper but instead staring at you, somewhere in between a daze and a focused stare.

“Todo-san?”

His eyes widen as though he’s brought back to reality and he looks back at the map.

“Shit,” he murmurs under his breath as he stares back and forth over it. It’s clear that it’s taken quite a bit of time for you to do, but you don’t think you’ve ever met someone so dedicated it’s almost cute. In a pathetic way, of course.

Definitely that and nothing else.

Todo slides his hand over the map and pulls it towards him, rolling it up and sticking it in his back pocket. His inquisitive look turns into genuine excitement as he bows to you, then runs out of the store.

“Catch you later!”

It’s almost 2 am when he leaves and you look at the display stand to see that he hasn’t bought any of the chips. It’s quiet for the rest of the night.

—

You don’t see him for the next week.

Does it take a whole week to get through your map? You wonder. He also hasn’t come by to stop by your place, and you wonder if he’s decided you’re not lucky after all. For some reason you feel uncomfortable when you see other people buy Takada-sponsored chips, then remember it’s a free country. Nevertheless, you stash away a few bags for him.

Todo doesn’t come by the week after that either and the promotion ends.

The nights are quiet again. You stare idly at the display shelf, now replaced with a different brand of chips and think about the five bags you’ve stashed away for his sake and wonder what has compelled you to help this weirdo out so much. Maybe you were caught up in his own excitement, the idea of helping someone else out. Perhaps it was a bit of boredom. Some nights Todo would linger and rave about something you clearly didn’t understand after clearing up his destruction. Something about monsters and curses and sorcery that you let it enter one ear and exit the other. He was delusional after all.

But he had a very nice smile, you had to admit. The kind of smile that you wanted to keep seeing, if you admitted it to yourself.

…

It’s 4:43 a.m. and you’ve dozed off at your post.

You only realize because you wake up due to the sounds of screams, and startled, you rise straight like a board to find Aoi in your shop again, but he’s not facing you. Instead, he’s turned so that his back is to you, but he’s got someone in a chin lock and your eyes are wide.

“Oh my god, stop!” You rush around the counter to pull at his arm. “Let him go!”

Aoi’s eyes cut at you in irritation. “Now you wake up?”

He releases his hold regardless, but the man is passed out on the ground, and you turn around him, kneeling down to make sure that he’s still breathing.

“He’s alive,” Todo hisses, the annoyance still thick in his voice. His arms cross over his chest while you furrow your eyebrows at him. “What about a ‘thank you’, huh? You were being robbed while you were asleep on the job.”

Your cheeks warm as you rise to your feet. He shakes his head, and picks up the man and sits him up against a wall in the corner.

“You’re bad at your job,” Todo repeats finally as he rests against your counter, leaning on his elbow. He has one eye on the sleeping man in the corner, watching him to see if he’ll rouse.

He’s right and you swallow hard. If he hadn’t been around… you wonder what could have actually happened. Embarrassing.

“We should call the police.”

Todo gives you a slight grimace. “Not a fan of cops. He’s harmless now, don’t worry.”

You twist your mouth to the side, but secretly you’re thankfully he’s staying around. Plus he’s entertaining when he’s not actively engaged in violence.

It remains quiet for the next few moments as another song plays on the radio. It’s not a Takada hit, but it brings her back to mind.

“I take it, you ended up being unsuccessful?”

He rolls his eyes at you. “I’ll buy tickets like everyone else, I guess. True love can’t be stopped, obviously.”

You end up laughing, and he pauses.

“Are you making fun of me?”

“No,” you reply quickly. There’s a smile that still lingers on your lips. “I just think it’s cute, that’s all.”

He inches ever so slightly close to you, leaning in.

“What part?” he asks. Again he’s too close and you find yourself looking away, staring straight at the surface before you.

“Just how passionate you are.”

“Oh.”

He looks like he is about to ponder it further, and suddenly, he places a hand on your shoulder. A shock runs through your body, but he pats it gently and releases.

“I’m extremely passionate about everything, particularly Takada-san. It’s something you should know about me.” He grins before hopping off the contour to turn and face you properly.

To disrupt the thoughts racing through your head, you rummage quickly through your backpack and pull out the bags you salvaged for him. He watches you as you fulfill his portion of the routine, ripping bags open and dumping the chips on the counter. Bag after bag after bag you open, and finally to no avail.

You sigh.

“I bought these last ones we had in stock for you. No dice,” you frown, sifting through the salty snacks with your hand. “Guess I’m unlucky after all.”

You start a small laugh, that’s disrupted by the sudden gentle grip of your chin. The laugh dies in your throat while he hesitates and you hesitate but something in your eyes says go ahead and he understands it intrinsically, pressing his lips to yours.

There’s a pop you hear in your mind’s ear, like the opening of a shaken soda can where the emotions of like and lust bubble out, and when he pulls back you push forward to kiss him again. In no time, he is over the counter and you’re on top of it, legs wrapped around his midsection and bodies pressed close. He kisses your ears and your neck, and perhaps it’s the fatigue of the early AM that makes you care less about the fact that a customer can walk in at any moment and that the purported thief in the corner may resume consciousness at any time, but you let yourself be consumed completely in the clash of lips, teeth and tongue.

It ends too soon.

Before he leaves, right as the figurative cock crows, he waves at you from the door, eyes lowered in the afterglow of newly realized feelings.

“If Takada-san rejects me, I’ll be the best boyfriend you’ve ever had,” he jokes.

You laugh and wave back, newly invigorated. Maybe you could even work a second shift.

—

It’s not Takada’s name he moans for nights to follow, it’s yours.

The otaku who burrowed his way into your heart finds his way into your life just as easily, and now he’s buried to the hilt between your folds.

It’s not the first time by now. It definitely will not be the last.

“R-right there,” you whisper, holding desperately onto his broad shoulders. The grip of your fingers is tight but clearly not as tight as your walls around him from the sounds of his groans as he strokes up and down into you.

He takes directions well, angling so that the head of his cock hits just the right spot at the front wall and you bite your lip, forcing down a loud moan that will make him cocky enough to go full speed ahead and make your head spin.

And sometimes he doesn’t listen, especially when he flips you over so that you’re lying on top of him and coaxes you to ride him, even though you’re exhausted and boneless from the orgasm he’s already pulled out of you.

“But you look pretty when you’ve got your titties bouncing in my face like this,” he teases. He moves to kiss the soft of your stomach, then presses his face into your chest and blows playfully which has you both annoyed and stimulated, then lays back.

“Show me how you ride,” he insists.

He’s still a weirdo.

But he’s a sweet weirdo. He takes you on dates and holds your hand. He remains looking as scary as he did the day you met to others, but to you, he’s soft and sweet, and remembers your birthday and flowers.

That odd floral scent is as familiar to you as the smell of those potato chips.

The lucky ones.

Todo’s cock disappears inside you yet again tonight, and he rests his head on his elbows, savoring your warmth as you adjust around him.

He kisses your forehead.

“I am the luckiest bastard on Earth,” he murmurs softly. He stops looking at you, and rests his head on your body, holding you tightly and listening to the thrum of your heartbeat. You run your hand through his hair.

He says it often.

Maybe he’s right.

#todou aoi x reader #todo aoi smut #aoi x reader #todou smut #jjk smut #daydreams: jjk #mimi's notes #thoughts: todou

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whosname · 4 months

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Oh, yeah, here's a second post about Gintama's Live-action adaptations. I'm a total completionist so I not only watched the second movie, I had to find the Mitsuba arc and then @sebfreak pointed me to the other miniseries, so... (sorry if it's a long post, while I'm not drawing my brain can't stop)

Right, the Mitsuba arc

Loved they include the spicy parfait scene, I mean, the cgi is what it is, but I have a lot of respect for 'em even trying,

Zaki's afro? chef's kiss, simply delicious

I mean:

Also, Hijikata's reacion to the spicy snacks? delicious. These guys are good at funny faces.

Loved the Gin's pretending to be sleeping scene, missed the part about the black circles under his eyes, tho.

(Look, it was very difficult to find the three parts of the drama, I got 'em from 3 different places and every place has it's own subtitles on indonesian or french. Also, the quality? oh my, the quality was terrible by the third part)

This is a fucking sad arc, daaaamn, and this being a drama... well, it's even more dramatic. I mean, that last scene on the roof? it always breaks my heart.

And now, for something completely different, the mini-series thingy.

The episodes they choose to adapt are... interesting, I mean who in their right mind chooses those three? okay, I love how weird the decision is.

I love the details on the one were Kagura can't sleep, I mean, the Dragon Ball mangas, the justaway alarm clock, Gintoki's pajamas.

Holy shit, the make up, the Napoleon thing, the radio drama, "I didn't get enough sleep, and I'm starting to hear strange things"; I love this episode.

And then, the one were Hijikata can't smoke, maaaan, this episode was like a fever dream in the anime and the live-action is so on point. The whole Namek planet thing, "I'm going to defeat Breeza!", "I'm trying to revive Grillin!", the cgi is not that bad, I mean, slimy grimmy Shen Long could've looked worst. Also, I insist, Hijikata's actor is so stupid good at expressions.

And, finally, the dentist episode, another fever dream. I'm very afraid of the dentist so, yeah, can confirm that People of All Ages Hate the Dentist!. Also, again, their expressions!; Hasegawa!; the treatment! This episode may have worsen my fear of the dentist

I love the way this live-actions thingies keep the whole Gintama spirit, I love that the first scene on the Rules are Made to be Broken movie is the still shot from Yorozuya HQ and it's just these idiots talking over it. If I've watched this on the cinema I would've cheered like the stupid weeabo I am (I told a friend yesterday "I went from 0 to otaku in like 3 moths" so there).

I'm so thankful for Zura's piracy thing disclaimer.

Otose!!! OMFG, I love her!

"Work! We have to find work, Gin-san!" "I don't want to!" MOOD FOREVER!

I love how they all try very hard not to laugh in the scenes with this guy, they failed, but I love it.

We've already talked about Zura's gender but... come on! how fucking amazing they are??!

Oh, and the Katsurap and then Pako (I mean, they changed her name here, but I still like Pako more 'cause Ginko is a different character, come on!) carrying her on her back.

"It's the Shogun!" aaah, you didn't fail me, Rules are Made to be Broken.

And then the hairdresser thing. I can't stop thanking you, Rules are Made to be Broken.

I guess the whole chip on Toshi's neck is weird, but maybe the whole sword thing would've been longer to explain so probably it was best for simplicity.

On that note, "Sakatashi"

"You're a Neet. You're thinking like a total Neet!" "Is that so? You guys look like pretty big Neets too." "Who the hell is a Neet?! We are hard-working workers now!"

So, yeah, I can forgive the the chip thing ONLY for the scene at Gengai's shop. Toshi, pilot the EVA.

I can't believe how close to the original is the scene were Gintoki catches Toshi by his neck and they all run away from those Shinsengumi guys.

"You tax thieves" <3

this look badass, I mean...

We have little Takasugi action in this one, but hell, I don't care, I love his scenes with Bansai. Also, Bansai, of course.

Now, this is were I feel this goes weird, Bansai's gonna try to kill the (freaking) Shogun in a total different location form the train thing. It's... weird. Tho, Bansai looks amazing on his motorcycle.

I've said this a thousand time already, but I don't care, Kagura's really Gintoki's clone, I bloody love her.

Now, I don't fell Gintoki has a real motivation to go a fight Bansai in Edo, it never convinced me. I grateful for the Raccoon Bus scene, tho, I laughed like a maniac (look, I know I need to sleep more), but... dunno "then Takasugi Shinsuke will start killing people!" wasn't enough for me. Oh, and Zura, I love that they use every excuse to use Zura but still... weird?

I really like to like the first part of Gintoki vs Bansai but... too matrix~y too... the choreography is kind of cool, the shots between fights too but the whole matrix thing... I didn't like it.

BUT! the strings thing, that I liked.

And then the last scene at the dango place, I liked it a lot, I love when they did that on the anime averytime.

#gintama #gintama live-action #long post #i woke up too early and couldn't go back to sleep so I wrote this instead #some description gore i know #Rules are Made to be Broken

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chadsuke · 10 months

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Books Read in 2023:

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 3 by Ryoko Kui (2016)

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 4 by Ryoko Kui (2017)

She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat Vol. 2 by Sakaomi Yuzaki (2021)

Crossplay Love: Otaku x Punk Vol. 3 by Toru (2023)

I'm in Love with the Villainess Vol. 1 by Aonoshimo, Inori, & Hanagata (2020)

I'm in Love with the Villainess Vol. 2 by Aonoshimo, Inori, & Hanagata (2021)

I'm in Love with the Villainess Vol. 3 by Aonoshimo, Inori, & Hanagata (2021)

I'm in Love with the Villainess Vol. 4 by Aonoshimo, Inori, & Hanagata (2022)

Midnight Radio by Iolanda Zanfardino (2019)

[ID: Covers of aforementioned books. End ID.]

#2023media #gigi.txt #dungeon meshi always killing it. having a great time #the tonal shift when they pull out her SKULL is so.#its good. its v good.#she loves 2 cook is literally best yuri manga of all time no crit allowed it makes me so HAPPY #i drop everything to read new volumes on my manga site #crossplay love is a silly delight i always enjoy that manga #i do highly rec it. its yaoi and yuri all at once and shenanigans #i'm in love with the villainess was... fine?#i honestly expected to be more enthralled esp bc i love isekai but i really wasn't #i don't really like the mc rae that much and i don't get why she likes her LI claire! i don't!#not that i see why she would hate her but i just. truly don't get what is going on in their heads much of the time #and i don't like the act rae puts on At All like they discuss it in text but i Don't Like It #idk. i've subbed to it on my manga site but i didn't find it gripping?#i'm hoping the light novel will grip me more.#also the fucking inc*st plot came out of NOWHERE that was awful i hope those characters never come back #anyway midnight radio was really good and made me cry #four semi-intertwined stories in a fantastic chromatic way

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keroradio · 4 days

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It's here! (^.^) I'm not sure why this story is split into several parts when none of the others are, but this format works really well for uploads like this, a little like how the radio dramas that inspired CD ones were broadcast in several parts with each episode leading into the next.

I also really enjoy the character banter in this specific part (^.^) it's so much fun

---------

K66: Pekopon invasion CD, number two:

723: Natsumi, 1/18th scale plan

K66: Yes sir!

--------

N: About 15 minutes from now, your ears will feel like they're leaving your body for a world of fear.

(door creaks open)

723: I'm home!

723 (on screen): Ah! Stupid frog! Again, he left the cleaning tools out!

K66: Gero, gero, gero, gero, Natsumi-dono has returned from school, yes sir

966: Ku ku ku, according to plan

TMM: Is it alright? Going ahead with a plan while keeping it secret from Corporal Giroro & Lance Corporal Dororo?

966: If we told them, they'd oppose it

K66: Tamama, you must especially keep it secret from that red daruma. This time's "1/18th scale Natsumi" plan is-

G66: What is a secret?

K66: Corporal Giroro! When did you get here?

G66: I just got here now

K66: I-Is that right, sir? (If he'd heard, yee! It'd be really bad!)

G66: Then, what is this "1/18th scale Natsumi" plan?

K66: Gero! You heard it, then?

G66: What kind of pointless plan did you think of?

K66: Right, right, it's too trivial a plan for you to bother with

TMM: No it's not! This time, Mr Sergeant's plan is completely different from all the dumb plans before it

K66: Dumb?

TMM: It's seriously great! We're going to use the "When the bell rings, your size changes spoon" device Sgt Major Kururu invented to shrink Nacchi to 1/18th her size

G66: What?!

966: He said it

K66: P-Private Tamama, don't say-

TMM: Let me talk, Mr Sergeant!

K66: Uh~

TMM: We expect that if Nacchi is reduced to 1/18th her size her power will also become 1/18th. And if that happens, even Mr Sergeant could easily win single-handedly, and once he has dominance of this house in his hand, it'll be a stepping stone for the invasion of Pekopon. Well, it's a nice plan, right?

G66: (rage sounds)

K66: Tamama-kun, that was supposed to be a secret from Corporal Giroro

TMM: I'm sorry Mr Sergeant! Then, I'll definitely keep it a secret how you plan to turn the shrunk Nacchi into a living figure, and enter her into the space Wonder Festival!

966: Ku ku ku, since among space otaku, even one Pekoponian living figure commands a high price.

G66: (More serious rage sounds)

K66: Gero!

G66: That's moronic! I swear all this has filled your head with flab!

K66: Even if what you're saying is true-

966: Ku ku ku ku, It's too late now

G66: What!?

(Natsumi humming on screen)

966: Natsumi is now in the kitchen, where there's a single spoon on the table, and that spoon is really...ku ku ku, the "when the bell rings, your size changes spoon" device

G66: What was that!?

#keroro gunso #sergeant keroro #sgt frog #sgt keroro #keroro gunsou #cdrama #audio drama

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banqanas · 6 months

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Can I ask how you learned Japanese? I'm curious about learning it myself but have no clue where to start.

Disclaimer:

I'm self taught (only have one basic class in Japanese) and never took JLPT. I can talk, write and understand basic japanese, but definitely not proficient. Because I only apply my jp knowledge for hobby stuffs (a.k.a i can read a novel about oshi and have conversations with fellow otaku. but none of it is applicable in regular daily life)

I started since 2014 so I've been learning jp for almost 9 years (still am). I dont think I'm qualified to give advice so instead, here's a short essay on how I got to this point;

2014: learnt reading & listening from manga & anime. reading raws while comparing to fan scanlations. same with anime. doing this consistently to get used to the language 2018: peak of my learning -took a basic class in japanese in college. helped a lot in getting used to sentence structure and particles -started translating seriously (short written text only: interviews, tweets, articles) -practice writing and conversing via twitter. started tweeting in japanese and talked to japanese people in same fandom. found kaiwa friends. -also started translating spoken japanese (livestreams), but was not confident enough to translate word-by-word 2019- jan 2021: started translating mobage contents. literally just doing the same things as the year before but more frequently and more quantity. also started translating short spoken japanese without any text/script aid (radio). feb 2021: discovered high&low. met todoroki yosuke. trajectory of life changed. stopped translating for the time being 2022: slowly translating media with real people starting with some kamen rider stuffs. got more comfortable with translating spoken japanese (unscripted). 2023: here i am.

The long essay version:

The earliest I started learning japanese was around ~2014 where I was into a very niche series that has no translation so I had to buy the manga and try to read them myself. At the time there's no translate using image function, so a lot of it was me typing in the words in hiragana and hoping that I find the right kanji. During this period I (was forced to) learn a lot about kanji radicals and how to properly write them.

From that day on, Jisho was my best friend

I learnt mostly by comparing anime/manga fan translations with raws and going back and forth to check the words in dictionary. I prefer fan scanlation bc most of them are literal and are easier to understand as someone who isn't an english speaker.

I still consciously do this whenever I watch anything but I can differentiate what's a literal translation vs localisation now.

I started dabbling in translation around 2018

At the time I was into Hypnosis Mic (rap songs). I was better at understanding jp words now and could write simple words. I would tweet in japanese and reply to my fav artists drawings (this template is my origin). I also started posting my drawings with jp caption

I used to help around the fan translation group with seiyuu interviews or magazine articles (mainly written text). And the admin of the group would check my translation before posting them. I tried translating songs myself, but I realised that while I could translate, they don't make sense 😅😅

I made some friends in the fandom who were also learning japanese and we would consult each other with translations. I also made a friend with a japanese person wanting to learn english. So I would talk to them in japanese while they would reply to me in english.

So I stuck around with translating short interviews/tweets. I also started doing livetweets of niconico livestreams. I wasn't confident enough in spoken japanese so I only made general summaries instead of word-by-word translation.

At the same year I also took an introductory class to Japanese Language at my college. It was my first formal lesson in japanese. The book we used was Minna no Nihongo Elementary 1. The class got me used to sentence structures, particles, numbers, time etc etc. The class did not made me translate my anime stuffs better back then but the present me is very thankful for everything I learnt during this class bc it's what people in the real world use.

The next following years (2019- early 2021) were when i was most active bc I got into translating mobage contents. I translated pretty much everything I could from home screen lines to event stories to radio. I got better at making my translation sound better and not too literal. Also helped proof reading friends translations.

I personally think this was the best learning duration for me. Compared to actors, seiyuu (voice actors) have really clear enunciation which helped me got confident in my listening skills for spoken japanese, thus became confident enough to translate it. I could understand and catch up with what they were talking about with minimal text. But I still need to listen to the same radio show 2-3 times before I could fully understand them.

I dedicated every waking minute of my life to this game until it shut down. Then I got so broken hearted, I didn't want to consume anymore 2D media. Depressi spaghetti phase.

On that fated day in February 2021, I watched High&Low on netflix and I fell for Todoroki Yosuke. Started the process all over again by consuming everything i can about highlow to get used to the actors voices, way of speaking, dialect, common words/phrases etc. Also includes stuffs related to exile tribe. During this time I barely translated anything bc I wasn't confident enough with unscripted spoken japanese.

By 2022 I got the hang of it and started translating stuffs for kamen rider. And this year I can listen to fanta's radio while doing chores without thinking too much about it but can still understand their conversation! I read a novel for the first time!

I'm sorry that this got too long but I hope it helped to give you an idea of where to start! Here's to learning more! 👍

#the-sunshine-dragon #yukenshairtie #asks #replies #i really am sorry over how long this is #but i hope it helps!!#will add my personal points in a reblog

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onewomancitadel · 2 months

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Okay if you guys are scared about RWBY renewal this is a collection of thoughts which may or may not be reassuring:

CR was never a good choice. Finding alternate funding opportunities is preferable e.g. ideally not cutting a deal with a streaming service which subsequently leads to cut episodes. Streaming services are conservative to the point that successful shows do not often get renewed as it is. There are other issues there like I don't think the CR audience was ever one to crossover enough with the RWBY one.

RT seems to be looking at more local funding opportunities (drawing in sponsorships for RVB; RVB renewal playing on drawing back fans in - I know I haven't watched it consistently since Season 13). They've cut back on RTX (major money drain - events such as these tend to just about break even, speaking generally, if not work at a loss) and this was likely a decision made at the beginning of the previous fiscal year, which was around when CR did not renew RWBY. They've explicitly said they're looking at getting more sponsorships lol. Raise your hand if you cancelled yours because you thought they didn't own RWBY anymore

From what I can see a lot of people are concerned about the silence regarding renewal and from my personal perspective is that there are NDA's involved (I know for a fact that Miles has this in his Tumblr description, or at least did at some point), the year-long exclusivity with CR, etc. as well as the fact that with this type of money that RWBY is throwing around now as what is effectively more of a serious production than it was six, seven years ago means that you can't really admit to too much weakness in public (speculative investors), nor can you speak strategy. I'm not saying this is a good thing or a bad thing, but just potentially par for the course, especially because I'd argue the closeness RT had with its audience did not end up being for the best for many different reasons.

It's probably very likely that based on the success or failure of the new RVB, RWBY will or won't be renewed. I'm not saying you are personally responsible for making RVB succeed. There's no responsibility of the fan here. But if we look at the avenues they've taken to draw in money: crossovers (comic book audience), manga, novels, anime (Beacon era nostalgia), the CrunchyRoll audience of honest otakus, etc. they've cycled through to trying to re-establish their RT fanbase to offset RWBY production. RWBY fans are good for RT and RT fans used to be good for RWBY. RWBY was made because Season 10 of RVB was very successful.

It's no coincidence that RT's relative decline in years (I stopped watching around 2015, if that's anything) has led to this. I'm kind of at the point where I wouldn't even say any of this is really RWBY's fault because it's a very weird production (I say this as a fan). There are plenty of influences I've failed to cover here because I'm trying to keep this contained to my honest assessment - there's obviously something not quite adding up with the numbers of how many RWBY fans there are vs. its renewal dangling in the balance. They struggled with monetising way back when during the adpocalypse on YouTube which led to episodes not being uploaded on there anymore. RWBY has been a cult sensation and it owes its success not just to a loyal fanbase but taking risks. RWBY itself was a risky endeavour. I'm not sure if people remember but by that point RT was doing pretty well, but not corporate money well, and its flagship show was a Halo machinima. They were doing crowdfunding/Patreon before it was a thing, they were doing podcasts before they were a thing (obviously radio existed, but you know what I mean). When Fullscreen acquired them I remember thinking 'hm this feels weird' and I was about right.

I don't have any conclusive remarks here but I would say that I would really start to doomer worry by the end of this year. I imagine that between the exclusivity of a year (and how much that does or doesn't influence contract negotiation with other funding sources) and RT currently overhauling its strategy we won't really know until six months from now, let's say optimistically. It probably does in part hinge on RVB and getting back that sponsor base, but I'm not sure I perfectly understand it because I would sign up for sponsor if I knew we'd be getting RWBY, or something specific to RWBY only on RT - which is seemingly not possible right now. I don't know the full ins-and-out.

Of what's going on behind the scenes, we know less than drop. It's six to one, half a dozen the other, but my overall summary would be that CR was always the wrong move and RT needed an overhaul in its approach to sponsorships and funding as well as establishing its brand and regaining audience trust/transparency. RWBY should have stayed on RT and other sources of revenue needed to be pursued. I couldn't even figure out how to buy DVD's of the show a few years ago because it was so hidden. (Am I even suggesting something like Patreon here? Hell, maybe). We're not going to see the result of their developed strategy for some time. This is my tentative speculation.

#the [redacted] topic

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samasmith23 · 11 months

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Evangelion: You Can (Not) Marathon — (Part 4)

Neon Genesis Evangelion, “Episode 4: Rain, After Running Away/Hedgehog's Dilemma”

Continuing my Evangelion re-watch marathon with NGE, "Episode 4: Rain, After Running Away/Hedgehog's Dilemma"! For my thoughts on the previous episode, click the link to the post below:

With that out of the way, let's dig in! I’m especially excited to revisit this episode as this was always one of my personal favorite episodes from the series!

I love Misato’s dialogue when she reacts to seeing Shinji’s room completely empty with only his ID card and a letter on his desk: “*Sigh...* He’s run away… I’m not surprised…”

Even without reading the goodbye letter, Misato immediately realizes what is going on because she and Shinji truly are similar when it comes to their loneliness and desire to run away from the rest of the world.

This whole montage of Shinji wandering aimlessly back-&-forth around Tokyo-3 and the Japanese countryside perfectly encapsulates the major reason why this episode in particular has always stood out among my personal favorites: namely it’s ability to effectively communicate so much information about Shinji’s character primarily through visual storytelling and with little to no dialogue!

Elements like Shinji going back-&-forth on the looped train station while repeatedly listening to tracks 25 & 26 on his cassette radio convey Shinji’s lack of motivation and finding escapism through repetition, the scene of him witnessing two people kiss in the movie theater (the film is a dramatized retelling of Second Impact funnily enough) highlight Shinji’s simultaneous desire for and aversion towards having intimate relationships and physical contact with others, the pink-filter scene of Shinji feeling overwhelmed by the sight of Toyko-3 and subsequent leaving to the countryside represents Shinji’s fear of the pressure of responsibility and desire to run away from pain, while him coincidentally encountering Tokyo-3 again on the mountainside is reminiscent of Shinji’s inability to truly run away as he keeps coming back to piloting the EVA in order to find some purpose in life, and the image of Shinji sitting by the cliffside is reflective of his suicidal ideation since the landscape is visually based off the real-life Owakudani area which is sadly well-known for its high suicide rates.

Interestingly though, series' creator Hideaki Anno has stated before that a defining feature of Shinji's character is that, "he is a boy who doesn't even have the courage to kill himself."

And it is here where I feel its appropriate to address a major elephant in the room when it comes to analyzing anything Evangelion-related. Specifically, in addition to being reflective of Anno's own personal struggles with depression, EVA as a series simultaneously functions as a meta-critique of the Japanese otaku subculture. For those who aren't aware, "otaku" essentially somewhat functions as a Japanese synonym for a nerd or geek with obsessive interests. In his essay "おたく / Otaku / Geek," Morikawa Kaichirō argues that "contemporary usage of the word otaku [originating] in an essay titled 'A Study of Otaku' that appeared in the June 1983 edition of Manga Burikko, an erotic manga magazine [by] Nakamori Akio (1)." Following the infamous 1989 otaku murders in which an anime fan named Tstusmo Miyazaki killed 4 young girls, Kaichirō elaborates that otaku evolved into a pejorative shorthand for "person who has retreated into a fantasy world, unable to tell the difference between reality and illusion, and is sexually attracted to small children (8)."

Concerning Evangelion, both Anno and the other founding members of Studio Gainax were pioneering members of otaku subculture within the anime industry, but during the production of his previous anime, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Anno fell into a four-year-long struggle with severe depression and became increasingly introspective and critical about the certain elements of otaku lifestyle which he grew to hate about himself and others. While Anno today openly embraces the more positive aspects of his otaku identity, during the mid-to-late 90s Anno's clinical depression and growing disenchantment with otaku significantly influenced the overall narrative and themes of the franchise. This is supported by an interview from the 1997 Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion Pamphlet with assistant-director Kazuya Tsurumaki, who described Shinji's "distant, awkward communication" with the rest of the series' cast functioning as a parable for otaku IRL.

Now with that major aside out of the way, let's resume the analysis of the episode!

I think this scene answers my previous question about why exactly Shinji suddenly decided to disobey orders during the fight with the Angel Shamshel in the previous episode: Namely, after realizing that perfectly obeying orders like a robot got him nowhere, Shinji simply stopped giving a crap and was determined to just kill the Angel even if it meant he himself would get killed in the process. It further feeds into to the previous cliffside imagery which alluded to Shinji’s suicidal tendencies and his lack of any true desire to live unless he can be of use to someone else. It just goes to show how empty and hollow one's existence can feel when consumed by severe depression and self-imposed isolation. A true Hedgehog's Dilemma...

Also, while Spike Spencer’s “yes” replies to Misato can feel a tad bit sarcastic here, he does perfectly nail Shinji’s nihilism in this scene!

As much as I rag on Kensuke in the ADV dub for his crappy voice acting, I do love how he serves as somewhat of a foil to Shinji during the scene where Kensuke’s childishly pretending to be a military soldier before camping out with a wandering Shinji. While Shinji is a stand-in for the introverted depressed otaku (which is reflective of Anno’s own mental state during the production of NGE), Kensuke reflects the more nerdy escapist otaku who’s so overly immersed in their fandom passions that they blind themselves from the ongoings of the real world.

This contrast is best conveyed when Kensuke ignorantly states how jealous he is of Shinji for both being able to pilot EVA and live under the care of an attractive older woman like Misato, whereas Shinji reflects the harsh reality and emotional struggles that a 14-year-old effectively serving as a child soldier would endure. It’s likely no accident that Kensuke was cosplaying as a soldier during this scene, especially since the previous interaction between Misato & Ritsuko about the former’s concern for the mental health of the EVA pilots was juxtaposed with the latter coldly examining Rei’s physical health so that she could fulfill her duty as a cog in NERV’s military industrial complex. Ironically, the same industrial complex which Kensuke idolizes is the one which causes Shinji & Rei pain.

Also, we get another bit of foreshadowing about the EVA’s harboring the souls of the pilot’s dead mother’s as Kensuke reveals that just like Shinji he too lacks a mother.

Misato’s angry reaction to Shinji stating that he’ll continue to pilot the EVA solely because it’s what’s expected of him and that he doesn’t want to place the burden of responsibility on Rei is… interesting. On the one hand Misato is exposing her limitations at being an efficient parental-figure/guardian to Shinji by letting the military commander side of her personality override her nurturing side by coldly scolding Shinji and telling him to leave if that’s going to be his attitude going forward. But on the other hand, I can’t help but completely agree with Misato’s rationale here since if Shinji’s going to continue piloting, then he should do so only if he legitimately wants to or is doing so to discover his own purpose in life, rather than doing so simply out of detached obligation or an aimless desire to gain validation from others. In this regard, piloting the EVA is metaphorical for growing up versus running away, something which Misato herself has and still struggles with.

And that’s why Misato's so harsh on Shinji here. It's because she knows exactly what he’s going through. But while Misato does legitimately want what’s best for him (which is why she feels that him quitting might be better for his mental health), she’s unable to express it in a tactful manner since Shinji in this scenario represents the part of Misato that she hates about herself.

Regarding the scene where Toji requests Shinji to hit him as recompense for him previously hitting Shinji back in Episode 3, I never noticed this before but Toji's request is actually reflective of his struggles with toxic masculinity. I mentioned before that Toji heavily fits into the archetype of the traditional school jock. And although he does subvert many of the traits associated with said-archetype (namely through developing a sense of regret for his previous bullying of Shinji and even empathizing and befriending him), Toji still embodies several attitudes associated with toxic masculinity through his belief of resolving conflict through physical violence. Whether it be him punching Shinji out of anger for EVA Unit-01 accidentally hospitalizing his younger sister, or Toji insisting that Shinji punch him back in order to “let bygones be bygones” between them.

In this regard, Toji is also experiencing his own form of the Hedgehog’s Dilemma which Shinji & Misato also deal with, since he struggles with expressing his feelings of empathy to others and relies on a tough-exterior and communicating primarily through physical pain.

And interestingly, this examination of toxic masculinity isn’t just limited to Toji’s character, but also too Misato’s as well since in previous episodes she scolded Shinji for “not acting like a boy” whenever he acted distant or reserved. And these harmful perceptions of “traditional” masculinity are something which Misato overcomes by the end of this episode when she realizes that the Hedgehog’s Dilemma is causing both Shinji and herself to shielding their true feelings by allowing themselves to be hurt and to hurt others. This is why Misato comes to regret her previous scolding of Shinji, and rushes to see him goodbye at the train station.

Also, I love how Misato’s realization of the harm the Hedgehog’s Dilema causes both her and Shinji is contrasted against one of Shinji’s most famous line’s in the entire series, exposing the true depths of his depression and self-loathing to Toji: “I'm the one who deserved to be hit! Not You! I'm a coward! I'm dishonest! I'm sneaky! And a wimp!”

This final moment where Misato apparently arrives too late at the train station only to see that Shinji never actually got on (once again running away in a sense…), and the two stare at each other for a full minute across the station before calling back to their lines from Episode 2 (specifically when Shinji first arrived at Misato's apartment...), is yet another perfect example of communicating so much information and character development with very little to almost no dialogue! It’s at this moment Shinji finally realized that Misato does legitimately care about him as a parent/guardian-figure and was more than just his commanding officer expecting him to solely follow orders. And Misato finally realized that she needs to not hide her motherly affection for Shinji and start showing him legitimate support, instead of trying to shield her own loneliness through both her gruff military exterior and messy home life.

The duality between Shinji & Misato's respective Hedgehog Dilemma's comes full circle by the end of the episode. As Anno himself once clarified in a written statement for the July 1995 edition of Neon Genesis Evangelion Vol. 1:

"[Shinji] tries to live in a closed world where his behavior dooms him, and he has abandoned the attempt to understand himself. A cowardly young man who feels that his father has abandoned him, and so he has convinced himself that he is a completely unnecessary person, so much so that he cannot even commit suicide. And there is a 29-year-old woman who lives life so lightly as to barely allow the possibility of a human touch. She protects herself by having suface level relationships, and running away. Both are extremely afraid of being hurt. Both are unsuitable-lacking the positive attitude-for what people call heroes of an adventure. But in any case, they are the heroes of this story."

Well, that was NGE, "Episode 4: Rain, After Running Away/Hedgehog's Dilemma", and even after all this time this one still stands as one of my personal favorite episodes from the entire series! Even as far back as Episode 4, Anno was relying heavily on visual storytelling techniques which heavily distinguished EVA from your conventional giant-robot anime series! And that’s a huge factor why even upon rewatch this episode still holds up phenomenally well among the earlier episodes!

Funnily enough though, this episode was actually almost never produced and is the only one out of all 26 episodes in which Anno possesses neither a writing nor co-writing credit. According to the Platinum Booklet - Episode Commentaries, Episode 4 was originally absent from the original plot outlines for the series, stating that,

"In actuality, this episode was once omitted in terms of the series composition and it was planned that what is now Episode Five would come after Episode Three. But as production progressed, staff members voiced their opinion that perhaps there was a need to depict Shinji’s relationship with the people around him after Episode Three, and thus, this episode was made, greatly changing the contents from what had originally been conceived. Because of this, the script for this episode written after the script for Episode Five had already been finalized. This is the one and only episode of all the TV and movie episodes in which Director Anno did not have a direct hand in the plot and script."

All I can say is, thank goodness that this episode does exist. Regardless of whether or not Anno himself was directly involved with the writing process for this specific episode, you can feel his influence all throughout its runtime. Overall, definitely a strong contender for one of the best entries in the original series!

Next time... Episode 5 and our first real glimpse into the enigma known as Rei Ayanami!

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