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rainchyna · 1 year

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𓆩♡𓆪 episode five: WRESTLING WAR I.

i fought for my life so that y’all can see this so y’all better like it because we will fight >:( this ep is pretty uneventful apart from the promo but it’s kinda boring so i don’t blame y’all if you don’t like it LMAO we could’ve had FOUR EPISODES by now but tumblr stay being the biggest mf opp

6:47 am, training.

the nWo formed two days ago.

it’s been a really long time since you’ve last seen producers, writers, Vince and others be so panicked. it all happened so quickly too, the last thing anyone expected was for Hulk to be the the third man of the faction. it’s not like they can change anything now.

a day that has training usually starts at five for you and Bret. when you both arrived, Randy was there too. the place was a mess. there were a lot of employees running by, paperwork for upcoming storylines was being thrown around, rooms being turned into meeting halls. Randy explained that Vince, apparently, had trapped some people with him since last night and they’ve been writing and rewriting Raw for hours.

“I’ve never seen him so stressed” Bret said as he laced up his boots again, “it’s like his whole head of hair turned white overnight”. you hum, laid out on the ring mat. this meant a lot for you, you had to reinvent your character. introduce new moves, come up with some catchphrases, design some proper ring gear. last thing you need right now is for the audience to get bored of you.

“y’know” you sat up, “back in Japan, when I was in a mixed team with Shinya, we used to do this move where he’d power bomb someone then set them up on the turnbuckle, then I’d hit a running frankensteiner out in the concrete. do you think that would be too much if i do it here?” you ask.

“you worked with Shinya Hashimoto?!” Randy asked, “yeah?” you answer, “didn’t you know that?” you ask. Randy shrugged, “mixed matches are basically unheard of here” he says. can’t blame him, he’s right.

“I don’t think it’ll be too much, considering what will happen for this next period of time. I think Vince will be open to any type of exciting change” Bret says.

you began thinking of new things to add to your character and ways to introduce yourself to the fans, because up until now your gimmick just seems to be a shell of who you were in Japan. maybe you should just use your first name? or talk a certain way? maybe a major gimmick change! hm…

“Y/n?!” Bret called out for you, “huh?” you were zoned out. you look at him and there suddenly was a wild Vince Mcmahon standing outside the ring. his appearance made you jump a little, his hair was an absolute mess, his under eyes were dark and his eyes were red. his button up was wrinkly and the stress of work was showing on him.

“are you okay?” you ask, he nods with a hum as he rubs his temples. “I need all three of you in the office” he says, voice raspier than usual.

as you four walk towards the office you feared the worse, it was obvious that Vince was not in a great in mood at all. you were scared he’d ask you to do something stupid, or to change your gimmick and make a joke out of you.

you exhale, it was Vince McMahon. only so much can go wrong.

Vince begins scrambling for some papers as soon as you enter the office, you, Bret and Randy cram into a random couch in the room. it was something you guys always unconsciously did, cramming in one spot when there’s plenty of room around you.

“here” Vince hands you a paper, you quickly grab it and both men lean in with you to read as well. you frown, the paper was split into two parts, and names were arranged in columns and rows. Vince had picked out the teams for you and Taker.

“I thought you were going to let us pick out our own teammates..?” you half ask, it’s not like you hated your teammates, but you would’ve liked to have picked them out yourself.

“well, they’ve already been selected.” Vince said. you wanted to make him let you pick, but you didn’t want to argue with him today. “okay” you respond.

“why is my name on there?” Randy asked, “wouldn’t that be unfair to the other team?”

“don’t worry, I have a plan for you” Vince said.

please let this go well.

“for tonight’s Raw, I wanna see if you can do an unscripted promo. Taker’s part has been printed out but we left your lines out of his version.” Vince says sitting behind his desk.

“are you sure?” you ask, he nods. “I wanna see if you’re as reliable on a mic as you are in the ring” he explains.

please let this go well.

“okay”

10:22 am, y/n’s locker room.

“which one goes better with my shorts?” you ask holding up two tops in front of your mirror, both strapless, one is red leather and the other black denim.

“hello?” you look behind you, Steve had passed out on the couch while Owen was trying to shove what looked like a pen up his nose. “guys!”

Steve loudly snores himself awake while Owen immediately tries to look innocent. “you’re really not helping” you put the clothes down. “w-what? no, no, I am” Steve sits up, you roll your eyes. “you fell asleep” Owen says, “and you were trying to put a pen up his nose!” you flip on a chair near you.

Steve turns to smack Owen but you quickly jump between them, “you touch my baby, and I’ll smack the accent out of your speech” you threaten while Owen sticks his tongue out at Steve. “whaddya need help with anyway?” Steve asked.

“I wanted to know what I should wear for tonight’s segment” you say, “hasn’t your official gear come in yet?” Owen asks and you shake your head. “that red shirt looks alright” Steve points to your pile of clothes that was almost on the floor. “this one?” you pick it up.

“yeah” he nods, “what do you think Owen?” you ask the blond, “yeah, I think it’ll look cool, wear it with dark pants” he suggests.

“should I wear heels?” you ask, “high heels?” they both ask. “aren’t they a bit impractical?” Steve asks, “yeah, but we’re only doing a promo later, I’m not wrestling tonight” you reason. they both shrug, “go for it” Steve says.

you put on the outfit and your shoes, then unintentionally started an argument about cowboy hats between a texan and a canadian. Steve was raging about how you should wear a white one because it’s ‘classic’ and Owen wanted you to wear a red one to match your shoes.

never in your life did you ever think you’d hear Steve call Owen ‘maple syrup boy’.

“and what the hell do you know about cowboy hats, boy?!” Steve spat, “more than ya fuckin’ do!” Owen faked a southern accent. “guys?” you interrupt, “a red one would look better!” Owen said, “the hell it ain’t” Steve crossed his arms.

“guys!” you yell, they finally pay attention to you. “there’s hats of all colours in the dressing room” you explain. Owen gets up and grabs your arm, “then we’ll go and see which one looks better” he says.

hilariously, they’re both angrily stomping their way to the dressing room with you following closely behind them.

the door flies open and thank god there’s only two people in the room, it was Bret and Randy. y’all would’ve looked crazy in anyone else’s eyes.

as both men continue to argue while pulling out random hats from the accessories’ closet, Bret and Randy look at them confused, as if you could explain anything without them giving you their ‘really?’ faces.

you go and stand next to them, “Vince rewrote Raw” Bret said, your eyes widen as you look at him. “what do you mean he rewrote it?” you ask. you were supposed to be improvising, you weren’t worried that much, but you still wanted to know. “he printed you a promo I think” he added.

now you needed to know.

“when did he do that?” you ask, “like an hour ago” Randy said, “and why didn’t he tell me?” you sigh. “you should talk to him, me and Steve have a match later and he rescheduled it like five or six times so far” Bret explained.

you groan, head falling into the palm of your hand. “no I insist!” Steve’s voice bellowed behind you, a white cowboy hat was suddenly placed aggressively on your head. “not now, Austin” you mumble. “he rescheduled our match again” Bret told him, “jeez, what’s going on with him today?” Steve asks.

you leave the dressing room and head towards the office, heels clicking against the floor. the place was quite, it was still relatively early, only staff in sight. you knock the office’s door before entering. Vince, Pat and a producer were in the room, papers were scattered everywhere, and the atmosphere was tense.

“am I interrupting something?” you close the door behind you, the staff member excuses himself before walking past you and exiting the room. “no, not really” Pat said.

“I heard you changed tonight’s episode” you began, “ah, right. I forgot to tell you” Vince said as he shut his eyes and rubbed his temples. he picked up a paper and held it out in your direction.

you grab the paper examining it, “keep it with you” Pat began, “we still don’t know if we should let you improvise just yet” he adds. you sigh once more, “the decision is still not set though” Vince says. what the hell?

do they want you to improvise or not?

“I guess..”

you didn’t want to start anything with Vince today, the man seems to be going through it. you began walking back towards the door, “y/n” Vince stopped you, “please do your best tonight”, you raise an eyebrow before quickly nodding. “of course” you smile. “nice hat by the way”.

you wanted to grab some coffee to rehearse your lines with since you were feeling a bit tired. you immediately notice Chyna and Lita sitting at a table having breakfast. “where have you two been?” you ask as you sit at their table.

“we just arrived” Lita explained, “and I heard Vince is not having a good day” she adds as she pokes around her pancakes. “oh trust me, he not” you chuckle as you begin reading your lines.

it was generic promo, nothing too crazy, apart from making fun of Taker every now and then. “love the outfit by the way, especially the hat” Chyna said as she drank some orange juice, “you should’ve seen the war that happened for me to wear it” you respond.

“war?” Lita laughs, you nod.

you three just continue chatting and talking about your day, which was a bit hectic so far. “y’all wanna go out later?” you ask, “I don’t really have anything later”. Lita hums with a mouthful, nodding her head. “yeah, this day’s been quite something” Chyna says, “true honestly, Vince is going off of rage autopilot” Lita adds.

the man is clearly trying to get rid of the kiddy, family friendly taste the WWF has to counter the nWo’s renegade antics. every once in a while you could hear him yelling about something being ‘not controversial enough!’.

poor Vince, someone get him an ice cream.

“so a bar later?” Chyna asks, “yeah” you all agree.

3:21 pm, dressing room.

what was it with you and Shawn always being the dressing room together? it felt like you were destined to meet every time here.

“are you following me?” Shawn asked, you slowly turn to him giving him a mean side eye. “I came here first..?” you say putting down your blush palette. you did a plain look today, basic base and some highlight. you added three red rhinestones to the outer corner of your eyes.

“you’re always here when I’m here” he said, brushing his hair. “coincidences happen” you spray your face with setting spray. “nah, I think you’re following me” he reassures and you roll your eyes.

“why would I follow you?” you ask, “’cause you want me” he smirks as he flexes in front of the mirror, ‘I swear my eyes will fall out of my head’ you think. how many times do you have to go over this conversation?

you groan loudly then breath out, calming down. “for the last time Shawn, I don’t want you” you explain. “eeehhh, they all say that at first” he laughs. “annoying ass bitch” you mumble.

you grab a random hairbrush and before you can touch your hair, Shawn immediately grabs it out of your hand. you groan, “give that back! why do you always take my stuff, man?!” you try to swat it away from him, but fail.

“I wanna brush my hair!” he laughs, “you just did your hair!” you pull on his arms, “Shawn give it back!”

he grabs one of your arms and pulls it behind your back, “Michaels, I swear to god-” you begin, he chuckled. “what are you gonna do, hm?” you wriggle in his hold.

“just give me the fucking brush back” you push against him, “or what?” he asks. you roll your eyes,

“Shawn” you warn, “pretty girl” he taunts.

you manage to break away from him and hit with a half assed upper cut. he quickly lets go of the brush and you grab it away from him. “stop with this highschool jock shit, I will break your fucking nose” you threaten.

“I’d love if you do that” he smirks, you stare at his stupidly punchable face, you raise your finger to say some smart shit but stay quite.

“you’re really fucking annoying” you mutter, he steps closer to you and pushes some hair behind your ear, “and you’re really fucking pretty” he says.

pushing him away, you roll your eyes again.

10:28 pm, RAW <Live>

you were in the main event tonight, the last half hour is all yours. the segment tonight was to determine you and Taker’s groups. simple.

you were rightfully very excited, this was your first feud and you were going up against the big leagues, this was going to be fun. everyone was crammed in gorilla, you look back at the men and women and you slightly cringe. get nice and cozy in there guys and pray that each one of you showered, because they’re about to be here for a long time.

you felt giddy, the type of happiness that had you giggling to yourself. Taker clearly noticed, your energy was quite infectious and he couldn’t help but crack a smile himself. “well, someone’s happy” he crossed his arms. “dude, this is gonna be cool as fuck” you smile, there’s a sudden tug on your arm and you’re yanked to side.

“y/n listen” it was Vince, he startled the hell out of you. “fuckin’ hell, Vince” you place a hand over your chest. “the promo we gave you earlier? forget about it” he said, and you look at him wide eyed, “what?” you ask. he nods, “I want you to improvise” he explains.

your mind immediately felt like that fuzzy, black and white screen that a t.v displays when he it’s disconnected. you had came up with some lines when were still going to improvise earlier in the day but you threw out most of them, not thinking much of what will happen.

“and you’re telling me this now?!” you ask, “I know, I know, but pass it off for tonight. I’ll pay you back” he apologetically says. you sigh.

and just like a switch had been turned, and of your excitement suddenly fizzled out.

this was your first feud and you were going up against the big leagues, hopefully this is fun.

you stood by the ramp and a staff member counted you down until your music hit, you fixed your hat and threw your championship over your shoulder as the crowd popped for you. you get in between the ropes and into the middle of the ring, holding your championship up high. a ring side staff member handed you microphone and the crowd settled down quietly.

“so everyone knows about my little situation with The Undertaker. we’re both backstage, he thinks i’m being rude, we almost fight, and all that, you know what happened, whatever, right?” you begin, “but me personally, I really wanna fight that guy, like what’s not good enough about this?” you ask pointing to yourself and the crowds cheers.

“exactly!” you smile fixing your hat, “okay, now everyone listen” and the crowd quite down again. “I wanna issue a challenge to The Undertaker, Taker, I know you’re back there and I know you can hear me. I want you to listen, so listen carefully - actually, why don’t you come out here?” you ask and the crowds pops.

you wait, everyone waits - and waits, you begin getting nervous, yeah you’ve been trying your best to keep the crowd invested in what you were saying, but this wasn’t supposed to happen. scripted or not, he was supposed to come out immediately.

everyone is waiting, still waiting and commentary are starting to question whether or not The Undertaker is coming out.

“look man, I get you walk slowly but hurry up now.” you say. you lean against the ropes and begin chatting with the people at the front row, damn where is he?

“he’s scared of you!” the girl you were talking to yells, “yeah! he sold out!” they guy next to her agrees.

they both begin chanting ‘YOU SOLD OUT!” and those around them follow suit. it took away the nervous smile you had one and replaced it with a genuine one.

the lights dimmed down and first dong in Taker’s theme song was heard. however, he didn’t get the cheers he usually got, instead, he was drowned in the “YOU SOLD OUT!” chants.

one couldn’t tell by the Deadman’s face but he was raging on the inside, not only were management backstage siding with you, but now the fans were too.

he steps into the ring and is handed a microphone as well, “whatever it is that you want to say, or challenge me for, do it now. you’re wasting my time” he said, and the boos he was met by were unimaginable.

“oh, i’m the one wasting your time?” you spat, “so I was the one who took one hundred years to get to the ring?” and crowd cheers so for you. “don’t get smart with me now, little girl” he orders and you shrug.

“just stating the obvious” you say, “now, as I was saying. my challenge for you is that we form our individual teams, people to fight each other. obviously because we can’t wrestle since that’s banned or .. something like that, but our teams can go through something like a tournament to see who comes out on top” you were immediately getting into the details of it all, this segment was already dragging.

the crowd listened closely to every word you said, interested in your offer. Taker raises the microphone to his mouth, “go on” he says.

“we’ll pick out our teams, men and women in both so that it’s fair, and we’ll go at it” you explain. “and what does the winner get?” Taker asks.

“the winner will be in Survivor Series as the main event!” Randy exclaims.

everyone’s attention and cheers are now diverted to the announcer’s desk, Randy tips his hat at both of you and you smile. “you heard the Macho man, is that a deal for you?” you ask.

Taker doesn’t answer you. he’s silent for a while and once again, the crowd is annoyed at his slowness. “oh brother” you groan.

you heard it when it began, the “YOU’RE SCARED OF Y/N!” chants. they almost make you break character, but you tilt your hat and pretend to admire your championship to hide the grin on your face.

“is that what you think?!” Taker yells at the crowd, “yes, you have a deal, Y/l/n!” he bellows and you push your hat back with a smile. the crowds pops.

“how about we pick our teams now?” you ask looking the crowd who cheer again. “Randy?”, Randy pulls out what looks like a bowl from under the table and jumps into the ring with you two.

“the bowl has papers that have wrestlers names in them, each of you gets to pick four. Y/n, you get two women and two men. Undertaker, you get two women and two men, both teams will consist of five members, are we clear?” Randy asks and you both nod.

the crowd didn’t even question how Randy knew about your challenge, they didn’t even care that he knew that there will teams and that he prepared. they wanted to know who was in the teams.

you dig in the bowl, mixing the paper around a bit before picking one out and unfolding it.

“Chyna” you smile, and the crowd cheers, they cheer even louder when she comes out to stand with you in the ring.

Taker picks out a paper and quickly unfolds it, “Luna Vachon” he reads and the crowd cheers again.

you pick, “Sensational Sherri”.

Taker picks, “Lita”

you pick, “Owen Hart”

Taker picks, “Shawn Michaels”

you pick, “Bret Hart”

last pick goes to Taker, “Steve Austin”.

the ring was now filled with wrestlers, Chyna, Sherri, Owen and Bret on your side, while Luna, Lita, Shawn and Steve were on Taker’s side.

“all is fair in love and war, including this one if that’s what we’re calling it.” Randy began, “now I’m gonna ask you two to shake hands. to vow on professionalism in the name of wrestling, no tricks, no lying, no cheating, no stealing. can you?”

you and Taker glare at each other, an intense stare down. you stick your hand out, he stares at it then takes it in his.

“call it wrestling war one then” he says.

little did he know that the reason your team was giggling among themselves and why crowd behind you were chanting your name was because you had crossed your fingers behind your back.

it’s on.

still there was one thing left.

the bowl had one last paper in it, you noticed it. Taker noticed, the crowd did to.

“who’s remaining in there?” Taker asks as he points to the bowl. you grab the paper and unfold it, your brows furrowed with confusion.

“Macho Man Randy Savage” you read and the crowd goes wild, while everyone in the ring looks at each other confused.

“now hold on, hold on, hold on. who’s side are you on?” you ask, and Randy laughs as he begins to exit the ring.

“can’t spoil the fun now, can I?” he smiles.

#rainchyna #sour grapes #wwe x reader #wwe fanfiction #wwe fanfic #wwe headcanon #wwe imagine #wwe shawn michaels x reader #shawn michaels x reader #wwf x reader #wwf fanfic #wwf headcanons #wwf fanfiction #rainchyna’s sour grapes

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444lpblue · 4 months

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The Witch and the Beast #1 - The Witch and the City of Blazing Red

Screenplay: Yuuichirou Momose Storyboard/Episode Direction: Takayuki Hamana Chief Animation Direction: Hiroya Iijima Animation Direction: Kei Tsushima, Yuri Hashimoto, Guonian Wang, Kazuharu Tada, Miyoko Shikibu, Asuna Imahashi, Shinya Segawa (Monster AD: Shouya Gotou) Key Animation: Mana Azumaya, Noa Kawamura, Shigenori Taniguchi, Yoshihito Narimatsu, Yuki Uejou, Hiroyuki Kamura, Mitsuyo Tsuno, Kouichi Hayamizu, Kazunori Ozawa, Shouya Gotou, Yoshiko Nakamura, Studio Maf, Yuka Hayashi, Takuya Nemoto, Maru Animation, Yeong-Nam Ko, Su-Jin Oh

A bit late on this, aren't I? But no matter what, I was going to write about this, and I will write about every episode too – don't worry about it!

If you were in the know how of Yokohama Animation Lab's recent animes, much like me, you were probably very nervous about The Witch and the Beast adaptation. I mean, I made a whole write-up on the outlook, which mostly hinges on director Hamana's consistency in terms of quality and his tendency to bring in specific animators. Well, now that the episode is out, how do I actually feel?

It's… surprisingly very well done. Of course, I'm not saying it's perfect; the biggest issues are likely the limited animation and a bit of off-modelness. But I'm not going to lie, guys. Maybe I am biased because The Witch and the Beast is one of my favorite mangas, but I genuinely had a lot of fun with this debut, and I kind of loved it. It felt like it had the soul of the manga I love despite some production hiccups.

First, let's talk about what you probably felt but haven't been able to confirm. The episode was indeed better than the PV. I got a sense of this as I was watching, and I was really kind of confused about why I didn't feel like the PV looked this good. When I looked back, it was very interesting to see how many differences there were and the improvements that made the shots so much better.

The obvious improvement in the shading of Guideau and Ashaf is apparent, but I also love the addition of the impact gust that they added to Guideau's stomp. Personally, it was something I noticed in the PV as feeling a bit too still. The only effects in the PV were just simple camera shakes, which didn't really sell the impact of her stomp that much at all. Seeing improvements like these from the trailer to the actual episode fills me with a lot of hope for the production. I feel like it shows that, unlike more recent Yokohama productions, they are trying a significant amount more.

If you couldn't already tell from some of the close-ups I've provided in this post, while the on-modelness of some farther away shots can be questioned, the close-ups in this show are absolutely gorgeous. I wasn't super sold on Iijima's character designs initially, but after seeing the improved shading and the various shots they kind of hid from us in the PV, the designs are freaking gorgeous up close. The Witch and the Beast, the manga, has always been a visual spectacle that relied a lot on its art direction, aesthetics, and of course, character designs. While it's nearly impossible for the anime to match it, I think they came very close. The characters' eyes are so pretty; I love the compositing effects they applied to them. It feels like it gives them a lot of depth and kind of like an otherworldly blur, which I think looks great. The features are sharp; they're so pretty. Everyone has their premium eyelash extensions on, and it's just about as aesthetically pleasing to me as the manga. To be honest, it might be my favorite character design for the season.

And since I also briefly mentioned the compositing, I have to apologize to Natsumi Uchida. I specifically pointed her out in my social media rambles as someone who was making me worry a bit. And that mostly stems from her recent effort in The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World, which, to be frank, I thought was terrible. The effects looked cheap, just due to how bright and almost neon at times they are. They don't fit in with their environments; it just wasn't pleasant to look at. However, her work in The Witch and the Beast is so much better. While some effects are somewhat questionable, like the smoke and Ashaf's crow appearing when he was saving Guideau, I would definitely say the compositing was a highlight in this episode. It really puts a stamp on the character designs with the beautiful compositing over them. It makes every scene paired with the art direction feel so dense, like everything is just so in-depth.

The art direction in this show is probably its best visual element. It absolutely shines. I mean, if you had to pick something out from this production as a major highlight, it has to be one of the undeniable biggest pros of the show so far. The series is a dark fantasy, but it's not a dull one. A lot of adaptations, I feel, confuse this with each other a bit. A dark fantasy doesn't have to mean dull colors or a realistic design; after all, The Witch and the Beast is all about its aesthetically gothic yet fantasy appearance that is quite grandiose and beautiful in nature, and the art direction covers that perfectly. So huge credit to the art director, Hirotsugu Kakoi and his crew at Kagoshima Ramecahirim.

One of my biggest worries for the anime adaptation, when I first saw the trailer, was actually, believe it or not, kind of its color palette. I genuinely thought they didn't get a full sense of Satake's style. It felt a bit too plain to me when I always imagined the colors in the world in this series to be very solid and strong, while not bright. I think the series functions on its boldness, and the backgrounds are a perfect example of it. The opening, I think, is a great example of this too, just them surrounded by those buildings in the midst of the night feels almost overwhelmingly dense. It really serves as the main appeal in many of the show's shots and ties everything (the compositing, the character designs, and the aesthetic) all together. The buildings and architectures, a mix of 2D and 3D, blend in so perfectly. You can take so many of those shots and make them your wallpaper; honestly, it's so pretty. It's also not just the buildings; the flowers in the room where Guideau and Ione fight were stunning. I also love the visual of the flowers always fluttering up due to impact; it just created such a magical experience for me. It's such a simple addition, but it was great. That, paired with the great soundtrack which goes from almost Persona-like music to soft notes of somberness that build up to the release of a monster, just all goes together so well.

At the beginning of this write-up, I already noted its production issues in terms of sometimes limited animation and a good bit of off-modelness in farther away shots (which I hope they'll fix in the Blu-Ray). There are many instances of very solid animation, which you can just look up on Sakugabooru if you want an example. I'm very impressed by Hamana's ability to manage this level of quality and a very strong self-identity of the show's visuals.

His direction in this episode, while some people might not like it due to its reminiscent of older styles, is noteworthy. Many of his shots rely on simple zoom-ins and zoom-outs, which I would say was a more common technique around 2008 or so. His way of transitioning is also a lot less focused on smooth transitions than most styles nowadays. For example, in Ghost Hunt, Gungrave, or Library of Bantorra, the flow of the storyboard is much less smooth and flowing than modern ones. Hamana's boards feel much more jumpy, I suppose? There's a larger gap that isn't covered by anything, which seems to have given many reviewers the impression of a slideshow. Personally, I don't mind it too much, as I think he still has some pretty interesting ideas. The transitions to Guideau getting stabbed and then grabbing Ione, I thought were really well done and mesmerizing. All the choices for the fluttering flowers were probably directly from him.

And hey, normally I don't like his openings, but the opening for The Witch and the Beast is badass, and I might write an individual write-up for it this week. However, I would also love to see other storyboarders and episode directors on some episodes to compare, especially for future episodes like for Johan and Phanora. I would love to see somebody like Shinj Itadaki give it a try, who I really hope to see in this series at some point. I think it's very possible due to the fact he's worked with Hamana before, and he's worked with Yokohama Animation Lab before. Much like a lot of the key animators here, he was also on Ancient Magus Bride S2, which, if you guys didn't know for some reason, contains an oddly large amount of staff that Hamana worked with before across the years, and they're also appearing in The Witch and the Beast now.

As you can tell, I really enjoyed the debut, despite its issues. I could ramble about it all day; there are so many things I want to talk about. However, I think it would be best to save that for when we get to future episodes. In this write-up, I've already spent a lot of time discussing more of what I like about the general direction and visual appeal of the series. Hopefully, in future episodes, I will be able to go more in-depth on specific storyboards, direction, and visuals that the upcoming episodes will showcase. I'll see you guys next week for the next episode of The Witch and the Beast.

#the witch and the beast #majo to yajuu #winter 2024 #winter 2024 anime #魔女と野獣

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dilf-in-peril · 3 months

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They threw streamers over Shinya Hashimoto's casket at his funeral, that's so beautiful.

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wrestlingisfake · 6 months

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Power Struggle preview

Will Ospreay vs. Shota Umino - Ospreay is defending the IWGP US title, although he's still calling it the UK title. Umino has asked him to bring both the US and UK versions of the title belt, so it's anyone's guess what he'll call the championship. Shota is 0-3 against Ospreay, but if he can pull it off this time he will defend the US/UK title against his mentor Jon Moxley in the Tokyo Dome on January 4.

Ospreay's future with New Japan is in question. He's been making a lot of noise about potentially going elsewhere soon. At the press conference for this match, he flat-out said he wants Umino to beat him and carry the company, because he won't be around to do it for much longer. I don't know if I buy that, but the fact remains that Will set it up like Shota can't afford to choke here.

The bigger picture here is that Umino has been branded along with Ren Narita and Yota Tsuji as "The Reiwa Musketeers." The implication is that they are expected to carry New Japan to new heights much like the original Three Musketeers (Masahiro Chono, Shinya Hashimoto, and Keiji Muto) or the New Three Musketeers (Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura, Katsuyori Shibata). It's a lot of pressure, and the storyline thus far is that the Reiwa Musketeers haven't lived up to the hype in terms of winning matches. So every time one of them gets an opportunity like this, it's a chance to snap the frustration or stretch it out even further. So while Umino can't afford to choke, that doesn't mean New Japan won't turn him into a choke artist before they turn him into a champion.

My gut feeling is that they wouldn't even bring up the idea of Shota vs. Moxley unless it was really going to happen. Even so, Moxley could still demand the match after an Umino loss, with nothing on the line but pride. In short, there are a lot of reasons that a title change would make sense here, but not a lot of reasons that New Japan can't dash our hopes and defer Shota's dreams for another year. I could honestly see this one going either way.

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori - Hiromu's IWGP junior heavyweight title is on the line. Interestingly, this match may also involve the ironman heavymetalweight championship, a comedy title in DDT that is defended under 24/7 rules. See, Hiromu won the title a couple of times in the past month, and then on November 2 Ishimori attacked him backstage and rolled him up for a cheap pin to capture the belt. So unless somebody rolls up Ishimori before this match (quite possible) the winner of this bout should end up with both belts.

This is a rematch from May 21, when Hiromu won by stoppage after Ishimori suffered some sort of neck injury. I was afraid he'd be out for at least a year, but he returned last month to beat up Hiromu and lay down the challenge for this match. It's pretty weird this match is simultaneously about a legit neck injury and a comedy belt that was famously held by a sex doll.

I think HIromu should retain the junior title and defend it at the Tokyo Dome. Then again, I have no idea who's being set up for that spot, so maybe Ishimori should just win it here to set up a rematch in January. Or maybe the sex doll could do a run in and pin both of them. You never know.

Francesco Akira & TJP vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & SHO - This is the final match in the Super Jr. Tag League tournament. The block matches ended with three teams tied on top at 12 points, but Catch 2/2 (Akira and TJP) have wins over both of them, so they finished in first place. Sho and Nobu defeated El Desperado and Master Wato to clinch second place. I expect the winners of this match to challenge the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team champions, probably on January 4, but it's not a formal stipulation like the G1 Climax has.

I didn't keep up with the Super Jr. Tag League this year, but from what I heard I was really expecting the odd couple of Despy and Wato to go all the way. This matchup should be fresh and maybe even good, but it's not at all what I was hoping for. I suppose Sho and Nobu will pull all the usual House of Torture cheap heat spots, but I can't imagine they'll actually win.

Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls - Okada's team is defending the NEVER trios title. It's not at all clear to me what any of these guys will be doing at Wrestle Kingdom, so the most compelling part of this match will be after the bell, waiting to see if anyone comes out to issue an interesting challenge. I don't expect Okada's team to lose at this point, and I doubt any of them will pin Sabre to set up a television title bout.

Jon Moxley vs. Great-O-Khan - This match was made when Will Ospreay demanded it in exchange for giving Shota Umino a title shot. Moxley suffered an apparent concussion on September 20, and since then he's only worked a couple of indie shows. This is a big opportunity for Khan to score a huge win, but there's almost no chance of that happening.

From the minute this was thrown together I figured the point was to have Moxley in the building to shoot an angle for Wrestle Kingdom. Once Shota Umino announced his intention to win the US title and defend against Mox, everything made sense. Unfortunately, that just means Khan is an afterthought before the match even starts. But that's kind of how it's been for him all year, so.

David Finlay vs. Tanga Loa - Finlay lost the NEVER title to Loa's brother Tama Tonga on October 9, and then got pinned by Loa himself in a tag match on October 14. So Finlay is looking for revenge, and Loa had better watch his ass. I wasn't sure if the plan was to push Tama and Tanga as a tag team or two singles guys. But seeing as Tama has already lost the NEVER belt, it makes sense to put them both in World Tag League in a few weeks. Thus, there's no real reason to protect Loa here, and I figure Finlay is going to wreck him bad.

SANADA & Yuya Uemura vs. Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji - This is a preview of Sanada vs. Naito in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom on January 4. Tsuji dramatically returned from excursion a few months ago to join Naito's squad, and Uemura just returned to join Sanada's camp. One of them is bound to get pinned in this match, and I figure it'll be Tsuji.

Shingo Takagi & BUSHI & Titan vs. Tama Tonga & KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight - Takagi recently defeated Tonga for the NEVER title. The other four guys in this match were all in the Super Jr. Tag League tournament. Not much to this, unless somebody manages to pin Shingo and set up a title match, and I doubt that will happen. Takagi's team should win.

Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney vs. El Desperado & Master Wato vs. YOH & MUSASHI vs. Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita - Connors and Moloney are the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team champions, but their title isn't at stake in this match. If they get pinned, you can bet whoever pins them will be in line for a title shot. But since four-way matches are often one-fall-to-a-finish, it's just as likely the champs won't be involved in the decision.

My guess is that this match exists so DespeWato can get a pin on Connors/Moloney and demand a spot in the tag title match on January 4. That would set up a three-way between the champs, DespeWato, and the winners of Akira & TJP vs. Sho & Kanemaru. I hate three-way matches, and setting up a three-way match by doing a four-way match makes me even more mad. But I suppose I shouldn't fret about it until they actually do it.

Jeff Cobb & Callum Newman vs. Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima - Newman might as well be the young boy of the United Empire faction, whereas Leube and Nakashima are the rank-and-file young boys. Cobb is more of a big boy and could squish all three of these guys, so his team has to win.

Ryusuke Taguchi & The DKC & Boltin Oleg vs. Strong Machine J & Mochizuki Jr. & Yoshiki Kato - This is a pre-show match, so I'm not even sure it'll be broadcast. It's billed as a "Frontier Zone" match, whatever that means. Basically it's some New Japan guys who aren't doing much lately versus some young talent from other promotions--in this case, a trio from Dragon Gate. I'd expect Taguchi's team to win handily, but Oleg is a Young Lion so he might be in this match specifically to do a job for the outsiders.

#njpw #power struggle #will ospreay #shota umino

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