#shirou off screen

[leog4u]

Game Design and Porn Pt. 1

or, How To Fuck Up The Best Intrinsic Reward Ever

Hi, I'm Leo G, veteran pervert. One time while chatting in a server exclusively made of porn artists, I brought up the game design of a porn game I enjoyed. One of them laughed, saying "Who cares, it's just a porn game?" Being unwell, I never let this go. Since then, I have played many adult games and took each one as serious products made by professionals. Fast forward to today, and the demo for my porn game, Joker's Trip, is nearing completion. I also have some sci-fi erotica you should check out.

So you wanna make a porn game. You heard they make money, and hey what’s more fun than making a video game AND porn? But you don’t know where to begin! Well don’t worry, Leo’s got you covered. We’re gonna walk through the line of thinking you should have when designing your porn game. There's gonna be at least three parts to this, with part 1 focusing on how to reward your player.

Define "porn game" for me, Leo.

There are porn games, and then games with porn in them. A porn game is a game where you won’t last 5 minutes, where everything exists solely to meet and, subsequently, fuck. A game with porn in it is a game where everything exists for the purpose of the game, and also, you fuck. Fate Stay Night, for example, is a VN with a story that just so happens to have some CGs where the protagonist rails Saber, but is mainly about Shirou and the Holy Grail War. Much like how I would call Castlevania a game with horror in it, but not a horror game.

Porn games are a lot like horror games. They both get a bad rap for being cheap to make, appealing to base instincts, and generally being low quality. They're also both not actual genres of games, but genres of content. Think about it, if I asked you what a horror game is, you'd say a game that's scary. But what's the actual game part? The unfortunate answer would most likely be "walking sim," but there are a lot of examples that are FPSes, puzzles, driving sims, platformers, deck builders, the list goes on.

The most common genres of game I see for porn games these days are by far RPG Maker RPGs and VNs. I won’t be talking about VNs because they’re closer to writing than game design, which isn’t a flaw but a feature. What used to be everywhere, in days of old, were breakout games, where the more bricks and levels were cleared, the more of the sexy image would be revealed in the background. Other arcadey type deals like shoot ‘em ups and mahjong were also around, and had a similar “strip ‘em down until you have sex” gameplay loop.

Okay, so what’s an intrinsic reward?

There’s intrinsic rewards, and there're extrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards, generally, are the number go up rewards. Things that make your character stronger, or give you more resources to buy new gear or whatever. Intrinsic rewards in games can cover a large swathe of things. It can be the feeling of satisfaction of completing a puzzle, a piece of lore or world building, or a new dialogue option with a character you want to fuck.

I like fucking characters, are we talking about porn now?

Yes! I’m of the opinion that you literally can’t make a better intrinsic reward than pornography. On top of setting the tone for the entirety of the game., at its best it can add to a story, add to someone’s character development, or be a beautiful piece of art to look at. AND you can jack off to it! Unfortunately, that’s at its best. Let’s talk about how porn is delivered in a theoretical RPG porn game. (As a head’s up, there will be talk of “bad end” scenes, but this is under the assumption that the player is the one consenting.)

So you’re playing an RPG and get into a fight. Maybe you were underleveled or too cumbrained to remember to buy healing potions. Then your HP goes to zero, and instead of going back to the title screen, you’re getting fucked by orcs. That’s right, let’s talk about Game Over CGs.

You get to watch porn when you lose?

To someone making a porn game with a battle system, this delivery method makes sense. The characters in this world are driven primarily by lust, this is just the obvious conclusion. And it doesn’t even have to be non-consensual! Games like Future Fragments show that it can be presented as a sexy inconvenience rather than anything uncomfortable for the player or our hero. Game Over CGs even have the benefit of softening the blow of defeat, by giving the player a chance to reflect on their defeat and jerk off. Even better if losing a fight isn’t lost progress, but rather a bump in the road. However, there’s a problem here. The player is a dog, and we’re rewarding bad behavior.

The porn is an intrinsic reward, so why are we giving it to the player for losing? Incentivizing losing on purpose isn’t just bad game design, but a waste of time. And to that end, a lot of porn games try to give solutions to this. One being a kill button on the keyboard or a skill that instantly KOs our hero to get to the lose screen faster. What might seem like a convenience is really just expediting failure.

What it says is that the gameplay doesn’t actually matter. You’re just here for the porn, right? In that case there’s plenty of places I can go to see a chick with huge knockers get railed by an orc, with the added bonus of not having to play forgettable and mid turn based combat!

Another solution I’ve seen is the game outright telling you, “hey don’t bother killing yourself to see the porn. Once you beat the game all of the scenes you missed will be unlocked!” At first this seems like a reasonable way to go about it, but it comes with another problem: your game better be fucking good to make me play through the entire thing before getting to see cock. Like I said earlier, porn at its best can reveal things about the world and drive character development. I uh. Just beat the game. I don’t care anymore. Showing me a scene that’s taken out of context by a factor of 5 hours or more isn’t what I’d call great game design or story telling. It’s also too little, too late.

What if we made the porn actual rewards?

Now we’re getting somewhere! Let’s make the reward…a reward! What if, every time the player beats a level, we get some porn? If we tie the CG to beating the boss, we’ll be tying the reward to game progression. That’s good right? So now, on top of the extrinsic rewards you’d normally get for beating a boss (a lot of EXP, better gear, opened areas) we also get that sweet dopamine rush of pornography! So we’re good, right?

There’s 1142 words left in this post, so I’m assuming no.

Well. It’s a start. It has the problem of predictability. If not handled properly, it comes off as lazy. As a game designer, one of your goals is to not constantly remind your player that they’re playing a video game. Get through the level, get porn. It feels a little too “mouse in a maze looking for cheese” for my taste. And much like the game over method, if the actual game itself is mid, the player will start to question if the reward is worth it, and might be afflicted with the worst condition a player could receive: boredom.

Of course there are exceptions. In puzzle or arcade type games where you don’t get extrinsic rewards, giving the player porn as another form of reward per level or whatever is perfectly reasonable (though it does have the issue of being predictable.) This is a perfectly good way of doing it if your game is short, or if the game is, y’know, good and fun to play. Bad Color’s game, Heroine Conquest, is a level based puzzle game with porn as the reward, but only when you do good. Combining the actual challenge of mastering the game, with a genuinely unique game loop makes for a feeling of accomplishment when beating a level. Pair that up with a sex cutscene, and the dopamine rush will hit.

So! Let’s combine giving the player a power trip, with a less rigid structure for giving the player porn. Instead of tying the porn to purely progression gates, let’s tie it to the progression.

Plot milestones

In Third Crisis, sex scenes are peppered throughout the regular game’s plot, starting with some lesbian bondage before introducing the protagonist, who goes through a tutorial before having their own horny encounters. It’s not just given when you win or lose, but is a natural part of the game. Beating bosses, losing to enemies, and exploring dialogue options in sidequests all lead to unlocking new CGs.

Now what’s nice about that, is that the sex isn’t placed somewhere extremely predictable. It isn’t just a reward for beating The Boss Of Forest Zone, Now Go To Ice Zone And Beat The Ice Boss For More Cock. Because that’s the biggest issue of predictable rewards, you know you’re not getting anything until that checkpoint, which will make the player weigh whether or not it’s even worth continuing. This is fine, again, for an arcade type game, not an RPG or adventure game. By sprinkling sex throughout the plot itself, the player will not only want to progress, but their curiosity will have them wondering “what else is out there?”

Rewarding exploration

By putting sex scenes behind optional side quests or encounters, the dog that is the player will scour every single corner of the map, and leave no pixel unturned. Personally, that’s more exciting to me than what you’ll get in the main progression route. In Future Fragments the player can find their rival Faye in sexual situations if they explore the map enough. These are completely optional, and don’t give any direct rewards like more HP or an item, but they’re by far what motivates me to explore the maps as thoroughly as possible, more so than the plot macguffins the game is named after!

So now the player is excited. Sex can happen anywhere. Maybe that daunting off road path with stronger monsters isn’t just hiding a secret, but a sexy secret! They’ll be more likely to venture down those optional paths you painstakingly made.

If we’re using sex in game overs, boss fights, and just randos, why not put it everywhere?

So now I want to talk about the concept of a “sex stat”. It’s not a bad idea! Say, the higher the player’s sex stat is, the more opportunities you unlock for fucking. It could even be tied to the player character’s personality, and affect the story! Instead of using a sword and shield, they’ll end any conflict with sass and sex. They open their eyes to the horny world around them and stop being a hero, and instead become a succubus, and the ending is a massive cum filled orgy.

That sounds excessive

Yeah, it does, doesn’t it.

I’m not a fan of “corruption” systems in porn games. Corruption as a kink is totally fine, and having it be a part of the story lets you incorporate more sexuality into the plot. But as I alluded to, it snowballs pretty fast (and I’m not talking about spitting in someone’s mouth). It ends up being like a cheat code, where you’re bypassing parts of the game for no cost. It stops being a reward, it stops being unexpected, and it stops it from being sexy.

Wait, what? Stops being sexy? What’s not sexy about a succubus orgy?

Alright, listen, we gotta rein it in for a minute. This isn’t so much about game design as it is about writing erotica, but if you have a world where everyone’s fucking and sucking 24/7, there’s no contrast to make what would normally be a hot taboo a hot taboo. If everybody’s naked, nobody’s naked. The aforementioned snowball effect of a corruption system can be seen if you play literally any game that has one. It won’t take long to not have to engage with any combat or adventuring system if you can just press the “Submit to the big dick warlock” button and watch porn to progress.

Which, now that I said that, is exactly the problem. Imagine any other rpg you’ve ever played. Now imagine if every encounter and dialogue option had an option to just watch a short cutscene to skip the encounter. That would suck ass, right? Literally no difference here.

It would. Hey, I’m sort of lost now.

Don’t worry, we’re wrapping this up.

So what did we learn? We learned game over CGs have a critical design flaw that shouldn’t be relied on. We learned that predictable rewards can lead to boredom. We learned to keep sex as a reward and not devalue it.

To summarize, here’s a neat trick to know where to put your porn scenes.

”Would I put an Xbox Live achievement here?”

It’s that easy. “Lose to Goblins for the first time,” that’s an achievement. “Beat orc commander,” that’s an achievement. “Find Hubert the Magical Dickhead,” that’s an achievement. Using that as a guideline is foolproof. Almost.

This sounds like it’d take a lot of resources

It sure does! But don’t worry. I’ll cover that in the next post talking all about how to deal with the resource management of a porn game.

(Shoutout to Taylor, my guy for editing!)

#Leo Gab #game design #game dev

[lovemaiyo-main]

RONNETTE, MY DEAR (don't ever dissapear) + s. nagi

⁎ note i feel so crunchy today 🙏🏻😓 one (this) | two (rin itoshi) | three (reo mikage) | four (chigiri hyoma)

promises. once when you were young and carefree, you had promised to give him the world. it was the first time nagi had realized he was truly in love with you. it wasn't anything special, rather a domestic moment. you both were seated on the couch. nagi's head was on your lap, his phone was lying down on his stomach. there was a movie playing in the background, and your eyes were fixated on the big screen. he was staring at you. you were perfect. from the dark circles under your eyes to the brightening of your face at whatever was showing on the tv. he found every beauty mark, every spot, every single inch of your body beautiful. you looked down at him and brushed his snowy bangs away from his face. " are you sleeping, sei ? " you had asked. he didn't reply, but something told you from the heaving of his chest that he was still awake. " i love you. " he said. the first ever love you he ever said. the words sounded unfamiliar to him, but not unpleasant. like the taste of a new food. like a character in a game that turned out to be op. your cheeks looked rosier. " where did this come from ?? hah, i love you too " you had just smiled and said that, but your face quickly changed to a slightly more serious expression. you looked down at him, into his eyes. " i really, really, love you. i know i'm not perfect or anywhere near, but i want to do everything for you. i promise to give you the world. " to that, he had said only four words. " to me, you glow. "

midnight conversations. the second time nagi knew he wanted to share every good thing in his life with you. it was the first time in forever that he couldn't sleep. he kept tossing and turning. " can't sleep either ? " you'd asked him. he was startled by your sudden words, he turned towards you, his sleepy eyes blown wide. you were sitting, propped up on the pillow, looking at the ceiling. he'd just hummed and closed his eyes. " i've been wondering, " you started. he opened his eyes and looked at you. 5 months later, and you were still as gorgeous as ever. you hair was messy and eyes dreary, but you were still the most gorgeous person ever. you were always unreal to him. like an angel. you were his guardian angel, always there for him. it made him so confused to as how a person as enchanting as you could even exist in this lonesome world. you were unreal. and yet, you were there, sharing the same sky, the same dreams, and the same bed as him. he didn't even hear what you said next. " -shirou ? sei ? are you listening " your brows were furrowed. " mmh ? " he mumbled. he felt kind of bad, but at the same time your slightly pouting face was a sight to see. you'd just sighed and layed down. " nevermind. 'm sleepy now. " as you pressed a kiss to his forehead , he came to a realization. him, seishirou nagi, pro football star, egoist, was utterly and totally smitten with you. more then you would ever know. this time, as he drifted off to the land of the asleep, he dreamt about angels.

stargazing. the third time nagi seishirou thanked fate for leading him to you. " this old lady on the train was telling her other old lady friend about how her husband took her stargazing to renew their marriage vows !! i almost squealed, it was so cute !! hey, sei, do you think we'll be like that ? old and in love ? " you'd been telling him about your day while you played with his hair. it felt calming, your gentle hands on his scalp. he'd just hummed at your question, but inwardly smiled. stargazing. he would love to stargaze with you. " what time is it ? " he asked. you looked confused but told him the time anyways. " 10 : 56 pm. why ? " " do you wanna go stargazing ? " you sighed " what am i going to do with you , sei ? " but you went. it was beautiful, really, the twinkling stars shooting across the dark sky, but he couldn't focus on that. there was a more beautiful sight right next to him. in that moment, there was no other way to describe it. you were radiating. you eyes were fixed on the stars, then your watch. " HEY !! sei, it's 11:11 !! make a wish ! " you looked at him. " 'ts stupid, no one does that anymore.." he'd grumbled, but seeing the slightly downcast look on your face made him reconsider. " there. " he sighed " i wished. "

somehow, without him even telling you, you'd known what he'd wished for.

#✶ sealed #nagi x reader #seishirou nagi x reader #seishiro nagi x reader #nagi seishirou x reader #nagi seishiro x reader #bllk x reader #blue lock x reader #blue lock

[toskarin]

Hey, do we ever see the FSN cast as adults post FSN or other works? Or they just exist in the fsn universe?

depends on which members of the cast you're talking about! some become much more prominent than others. obviously, massive spoilers below the break

let me get one thing out of the way: we see a good bit of adult shirou! [sitcom wink at the audience]

we see a lot of rin. she's in so many spinoffs that you can actually use her to orient yourself in the story ("how old is rin?" now you know where this story takes place in the timeline. "has rin mentioned sakura or shirou?" you now have a vague idea of how they're doing off-screen)

rin also has a million alt designs. I won't post them all here because they'd fill up the post, but rest assured you'll find no shortage of post-f/sn rins, since she's been granted the role of stay night's ambassador

we don't see much of adult sakura, besides a glimpse in the FGO craft essence Imaginary Around

this only really merits mentioning because craft essences have "foreshadowed" (read: a writer grabbed a design from them later on) character designs multiple times now. in this design, she has her mystic code, which could imply that this was imagined as a post-HF look

we don't see illya after F/sn and Hollow Ataraxia. her body is frail and she wouldn't survive more than a couple years after the story, so even if she's not killed in a timeline, she dies shortly later

we don't really see shinji. he's not a magus, zouken doesn't like him, and in timelines where he survives, he probably ends up leaving the family behind

similarly, we don't really see any of the "mundane" characters, which makes sense because they'd just be... living fairly normally, probably.

[starlightshadowsworld]

Just the way I imagine the ending to an episode if Shirou Orihara, Izaya's dad came to town.

A man who knows nothing about his kids, has been gone for years working and suddenly drops in.

.

We enter in on Russia Sushi. Izaya is, sat at a table with some fatty tuna.

No one else is inside, not even Simon.

It is completely empty and Izaya's coat is laid beside him.

His dad walks in, confused before smiling lightly at his son. Izaya smiles back, and immediately we know something is off.

Well we can already tell somethings off this all screams sus but, ssshh.

Izaya is smiling. It's not his usual smirk, it's not antagonistic or cruel.

It looks warm, inviting as he gestures to the seat in front of him. Which his dad sits down in, a plate of fatty tuna infront of him.

Izaya sees the confusion on his face and apologises, saying he didn't know what his dad would want.

Says he can take it back but his dad smiles sheepishly. And says its fine.

There's a silence before Izaya asks him if he wants to know everything that's been going on.

There's none of his usual mannerisms, no snark no smirk. It's almost like this is an imposter, and not the Izaya we know.

But it is.

It's Izaya with his mask off, his walls dropped. It's like the show ended but the cameras still rolling.

It's unnerving to us but Shirou Orihara does not know his son. And so he is not afraid, nor even a little creeped out.

Izaya asks him, seriously if he wants to know everything that's been going on.

And of course he says yes, eagerly too.

The sound cuts off, we only hear phrases like "and than this", "but than this" stuff like that from Izaya.

We see Izaya and he looks like the picture of ease. He's just sat normally, eating his fatty tuna looking the most casual we've ever seen him.

It's almost like he's discussing the weather.

You could almost think this is a sweet conversation with his father.

And than we cut to Shirou, who looks absolutely horrified. His food is untouched while Izaya happily eats his.

Shirou's eyes get wider with every minute. He is completely pale, almost looks sickly. He is staring at his son with nothing but terror in his eyes.

When Izaya said everything, he meant it.

Some of its stuff we know about it, but most of it we and every other character, unless they were personally involved don't know about.

He tells his father, everything.

Izaya is just in his element looking as calm as ever while his dad looks seconds away from throwing up.

And than Izaya stops.

Takes his final bite of fatty tuna and smiles "yeah that's about it."

Shirou gets up on shaking legs, his whole body is shaking. He points to his son and yells "monster, you're a monster!"

Before running out of Russia Sushi. He doesn't look back and just keeps running.

Izaya watches from the window and something hits the table.

It's a tear.

Because this is Izaya without his mask, without his walls. And for all he wants to pretend he's above all others and holds himself so highly.

Izaya is still completely and utterly human.

He takes his father's uneaten plate and helps himself. We hear the hustle and bustle of Ikebukuro out the windows but it's muffled.

As Izaya eats alone.

He finishes, standing up and putting on his coat. With it we watch the mask fall back into place.

The smirk is back, a devious look on his face. He pulls a switchblade out of nowhere and walks out of Russia Sushi.

Not looking back.

The screen fades to black as we hear "Oh Shizu-chan!", Shizuo's angered yell and the sound of a very familiar fight.

We never hear from or about Shirou Orihara again.

Izaya doesn't mention him, Mairu and Kururi don't mention him. Neither does anyone else, it's almost like he never existed at all.

But he did.

The one and only person other than Shinra, who will see Izaya for as human as he is.

Who saw under the mask.

And the last person who ever will.

#izaya orihara #drrr izaya #drrr #orihara izaya #Durarara #long post

[waitmyturtles]

CW: MAJOR SPOILER ALERTS FOR THE MOVIE “THE PORNOGRAPHER: PLAYBACK.” LONG POST!

I feel like there’s been something humming in the wind lately around the franchise of The Novelist/The Pornographer. We’ve seen a cameo by the incomparable Izuka Kenta in Candy Color Paradox, Yoshida Munehiro is about to cameo in The End of the World, With You, and The Novelist’s Twitter account has been buzzing with news about new DVDs and theater showings of the last installment of the franchise, The Pornographer: Playback. Miki Koichiro, the screenwriter and director of the franchise, has TWO shows out at the moment, the aforementioned TEOTWWY, as well the sessy-sessy Raise de wa Chanto Shimasu, the three seasons of which I am dying to watch as soon as there’s a solidly bad season of QL sometime in the future (which seems like will never happen in my lifetime, bless all these amazing QLs for coming out every season!). Couple all of this with recent reviews of the OG Novelist and Mood Indigo series by the fabulous @gillianthecat (here) and @respectthepetty (here), and I was happily reminded of good times of watching all of these parts way way back when I first discovered QL/BL in 2019/20. 

When the amazing @lurkingshan commented on a stray thoughts post by @bengiyo that she had seen The Pornographer: Playback, I was VERY intrigued. With HUGE thanks and big ups to @lurkingshan, I watched it over the weekend, and here are my thoughts! I’m going to put up a break to keep y’all from getting spoiled if you want to avoid it.

First off, let’s make sure we know what all the installments are, and that we’ve watched what we’ve needed to get to the movie. We have:

1) 2018 -- The Novelist: the original meeting between student Kuzumi Haruhiko and adult author Kijima Rio

2) 2019 -- Mood Indigo: a prequel depicting the sexual engagements between Kijima Rio and his classmate, Kido Shirou 

3) 2021 -- The Pornographer: Spring Life: a very short vignette set 2 1/2 years after Kuzumi and Kijima first met. They’re now in a long-distance relationship, and Kuzumi visits Kijima in the countryside at Kijima’s sister’s house, where he’s living as he continues to write.

(The first three works are all available on Viki.)

So I was BEYOND THRILLED to get to watch the movie and see all of this wrap up. If most of y’all only watched up to Mood Indigo, you saw Kijima re-meet with Kuzumi. Kuzumi, at that time, was just becoming a successful employee in the advertising business. 

Spring Life hints that things are still going well for Kuzumi, and that he was looking forward to spending a summer break with his long-distance boyfriend. Most notably, the piece ends with Kuzumi jumping from honorifics, by asking Kijima if he (Kuzumi) could call Kijima “Rio-san,” which we know indicates intimacy. Kijima’s like, whatever you’d like, and the smile on Kuzumi’s face takes up the whole screen, it seems.

So then we finally get to The Pornographer: Playback, which begins during the same summer break. Continuing with the theme and mood that I like to call melosexual (the music alone of this franchise is SO INTENSE, let alone the heaty sex scenes), the guys head to a love hotel and do their thang. At the end of the night, as they’re getting dressed, Kijima finds a business card in Kuzumi’s wallet for a hostess club that Kuzumi is forced to go to with work colleagues. 

Without divulging a tremendous amount more about the plot at this moment, the movie is basically structured around the push-and-pull of Kijima’s inability to move authentically closer to people -- not just Kuzumi, but also his sister, who Kijima disappoints repeatedly by backing out of family events. 

Kijima’s essentially paralyzed by fear and insecurity that he is a terrible person -- one that is not worthy of love. His sister is so overwhelmingly angry about it that she essentially kicks him out of the house, and blames their mother for never calling him out on his namby-pamby bullshit (at least, that’s in her eyes). At another point in the movie, he frustrates Kuzumi so much that Kuzumi walks out on the relationship and heads back to Tokyo, a surprising move for the otherwise always-devoted younger companion. 

It takes a serious scolding by a hospitalized and flirtatious owner of a karaoke snack bar (you read that right) for Kijima to get his damn head back on straight and fight for his relationship with Kuzumi. (And, HILARIOUSLY, I was cackling -- in the process of this, Kijima has KIDO -- KIDO OF ALL PEOPLE -- call Kuzumi on Kijima’s behalf, to get Kuzumi to talk to Kijima to reconcile. KIJIMA used KIDO to call KUZUMI. Lord.)

Okay, so what I’m really getting at here is that the movie showed that the whole franchise was missing two KEY elements that the first three parts did not have: comedy and authentic emotional connection. There was actually a little comedy in this! Besides the whole Kido thing (which I’ll get back to in a minute), there were a couple of bumbling moments that were designed to elicit some lightness, mostly with the snack bar owner, a flighty gal with a lovely son who tries to hook up with takes Kijima under her wing.

About the other element: we FINALLY, FINALLY SAW KIJIMA SHOWING SOME EMOTION ABOUT SOMETHING. He really regretted letting things go to shit with Kuzumi. Kuzumi called Kijima out for wasting Kuzumi’s time to leave work in Tokyo and visit the countryside. Kuzumi felt like Kijima wasn’t taking him seriously, and was constantly pulling back. I mean -- Kijima was living away from Kuzumi.... for what, exactly? It’s not ever clearly explained. And Kuzumi got angry and left.

This is a great time to mention the excellent post by @emotionallychargedtowel on pursuer-distancer dyads, because the Kijima-Kuzumi push-and-pull in this movie perfectly defined this dyad dance. When Kuzumi got fed the fuck up and pulled way back -- Kijima finally stepped into his emotion and owned his desire to be with Kuzumi. 

Honestly, in the first three installments of this franchise -- I felt like Kijima really didn’t talk too much. I felt like he was far more defined by his brooding, his letting the winds take him to where he was at any given moment, ragingly sexual and lonely all at once. He simmered -- he was flinty, defensive, and used his sexual energy to dominate and burn the emotional energy all around himself. 

The movie showed a TOTALLY different side of him. To me, the movie showed that his relationship with Kuzumi, long distance as it was, HAD a softening impact on him -- even to the point that Kijima dropped everything he was up to in the countryside to head to Tokyo and fight for the relationship. Kijima needed to be rendered totally alone, one last time, to come to realize that the connection he had with Kuzumi was worth fighting for.

And, yes, in the process of it, he brought back Kido in the mix -- which was also seriously poignant. 

REALLY SERIOUS SPOILER HERE, y’all, especially if you love/hate/gaaahh that awful devil, Kido!

. . . . . .

Kido asks Kijima if they could have ever had the same kind of relationship as Kijima is fighting for with Kuzumi! AAAAAHHHH! AND! AND! KIJIMA SAYS, no way. We’re too similar.

WHICH IS TOTALLY TRUE! They’re both self-indulgent, selfish assholes! I mean, after that insane sex scene in Mood Indigo, Kido just fucking LEFT -- he just LEFT, and GOT MARRIED, and HAD A KID, and was like, peace the fuck out, I can’t actually be my honest queer self with you, Kijima, because I think that’s actually abnormal (oh, Kido, you internally messed up piece of shit, AAAHHH). 

Whereas, as beautifully analyzed in @respectthepetty‘s review, Kuzumi represents honesty and openness -- the kind of traits that Kijima doesn’t have, but is aspiring to, in order to be with Kuzumi. AAAHHH. 

I was seriously like, WHOA, WHAT AM I WATCHING HERE, at that moment. AND, AND? At the end of that scene? Kido wishes Kijima good luck. And says: “You better keep Kuzumi-kun. He’s a valuable asset.” Of course, what a Kido thing to say -- that humans are assets, commodities. But -- he sends Kijima off with good wishes. 

And then.

Kijima reunites with Kuzumi. He called Kuzumi by Kuzumi’s name, Haruhiko. AND -- holy shit, y’all, my mind was blown. He tells Kuzumi that he loves Kuzumi by saying ichiban aishiteru.

I tell you, I was FLOORED. All throughout the movie, I’m like, “dang, Kijima keeps talking and talking, and I just don’t remember him TALKING all that much before in the other three series.”

And then he DROPS the ichiban aishiteru! And I think BOTH me AND Kuzumi are BOTH LIKE, WHAT THE DAMN, DUDE!

I’ve spoiled a LOT, but I won’t say more after this, except to say the following:

The ending was one of the happiest, LOVELIEST endings of a drama/movie I’ve seen in QL. Oh. my. god. Talk about SATISFYING. EVERY. CHECKBOX. MARKED. Takezai Terunosuke and Izuka Kenta were MAGNIFICENT. I had SERIOUS tears. They got in everything -- they got the heat, they got in FAMILY, LOTS OF FAMILY, GORGEOUS shots, FEELINGS. ALL OF IT. 

@bengiyo made an excellent point recently in one of his reviews of TEOTWWY that it seems like Japan lately has only been doing high heat in stories about death. It’s an accurate point: all of the pieces of The Novelist came out well before TEOTWWY and Eternal Yesterday, the two most recent shows about death that had heaty elements. I kind of wonder about something. I wonder if other directors and screenwriters are like.... The Novelist did it the best. We can’t mess with that standard. 

Because -- Takezai’s and Izuka’s acting in those scenes is BEYOND EXCELLENT. It was NECESSARILY EXCELLENT to end this franchise on such a warm, happy, COMPLETE high note. 

Now that I can look back on all four parts of the whole franchise, what Miki Koichiro did for us by way of Kijima was to show the whole-scale growth of a man vis à vis love. This guy, Kijima -- a brilliant writer who was influenced by a sexually provocative teacher, someone who was left inexplicably behind by a tormented, internally homophobic lover/benefactor -- felt he was deserving of nothing. And then he found his something in Kuzumi. He nearly destroyed the relationship, multiple times. And as he fell and slipped while climbing the hill of happiness, he was able to get a stronger and stronger grip each time he tried harder. And he was supported by people around him, including family and random friends, to give him lift. 

This movie was a lot more straightforward than I had honestly expected. I 100% expected more of the melosexualness of the first three parts of the series. Instead, what I got was a WHOLESOME (I can’t believe I’m using that word, but it’s true!), complete, and uplifting story of a man finding his true happiness in his lover, his companion, his chosen family. All of it certainly laced with heat, for sure, but also very deep, very convincing love. 

It was utterly fabulous. It might be too emotional, maybe too family-oriented for some who preferred the dark heat of the previous installments. But Playback, in my eyes, was a perfect closing note for a man who honestly deserved happiness after the work, and the SELF-CHANGE he put in, to get love in the first place. If you are a fan of this whole series, and can get your hands on the movie, I beg you to watch it, even just for one of the best happy endings you’ll ever see in QLs.

#spoilers #the novelist #the pornographer #the novelist: playback #the novelist playback #the pornographer: playback #the pornographer playback #mood indigo #the novelist: spring life #the novelist spring life #the pornographer: spring life #the pornographer spring life #takezai terunosuke #izuka kenta #yoshida munehiro #miki koichiro

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group L Round 2: #L1 vs #L2

#L1: Normal Girl™ accidentally joins Kansai’s biggest criminals

#L2: Girl turns into a tanuki and learns about racism

Details and poll under the cut!

#L1: Akudama Drive

Summary:

After the fall-out of a war between the Kanto and Kansai regions of Japan, citizens of Kansai now live in a dystopia. Criminals are bigger and badder than before, resulting in a specialized Execution Division rising to combat these ‘Akudama.’

An ordinary person accidentally wedges herself into the midst of a gang of the worst of the worst, and now she’s on the run with Kansai’s top Akudama to fulfill a cryptic mission. Her goal was to get back to her normal life, but one thing leads to another and she gets trapped, bound by her sense of morals to stick with her terrible team.

The team in question consists of a Brawler with a need to find the toughest opponent to fight, a Doctor who toys with lives, a Hacker who has run out of games to play, a Courier who always gets the job done, a Cutthroat with a kill count of 999 bodies, and a Hoodlum who was set for a prison sentence of 5 years. Joining them is the Black Cat, their mysterious recruiter, who promises great wealth to the Akudama.

Propaganda:

Akudama Drive is an anime produced by a video game company, and it’s amazingly a single standalone piece, unlike their other projects. The three people who lead the creation of the Danganronpa series (character designer, story writer, and music composer) came together and produced something so different from their usual pattern and it pays off.

The character designs are so fun, the music vibes hard, and the story is better than anything seen in DR before since (no offense meant) the cast all get fleshed out as individuals beyond a single trope. Everyone is depicted as morally grey, and it’s such a fun experience to watch the madness break out and root for the bad guys or the bad guys.

Every scene is so pretty, and you can see the color theory SLAPPING THE SCREEN, it’s so pleasing to look at. The voice acting is also top tier! The character evolution can literally be heard in the voices 🛐 The anime is a fun show with cool stunts and epic battles, but it’s still got some interesting social commentary if you’re the type that loves dissecting that madness. There’s a little something for everyone!

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore, Rape/Non-Con, Self-Harm, Constant Flashing Lights and Screaming

#L2: BNA: Brand New Animal

Summary:

Throughout history, humans have been at odds with Beastmen—a species capable of changing shape due to their genetic "Beast Factor." Because of this conflict, Beastmen have been forced into hiding. Anima City serves as a safe haven for these oppressed individuals to live free from human interference.

During a festival celebrating the town's 10th anniversary, Michiru Kagemori, a human who suddenly turned into a tanuki, finds that Anima City is a far cry from paradise. After witnessing an explosion in the square, she is confronted by Shirou Ogami, a seemingly indestructible wolf and sworn protector of all Beastmen. As they pursue the criminals behind the bombing, the two discover that Michiru is anything but an ordinary Beastman, and look to investigate her mysterious past and uncanny abilities. Could she turn out to be the missing link between Humans and Beastmen?

Propaganda:

This is one of the first few anime I watched when I was getting into it, so I'm rather fond of it. Though the show is only one season, overall it's pretty solid and ties everything together at the end. I also really like how they utilize color in the animation (it especially makes fight scenes more interesting to watch). The worldbuilding they have with the beastmen is pretty neat as well. This anime is good if you're looking for something quick to watch.

Trigger Warnings: There is some violence, and since the characters are animals, that may fall under animal cruelty. There are a few parts in the show where the colors get pretty intense, so that could be considered flashing lights. There is racism, as the beastmen are discriminated against by humans.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

#anime #best underrated anime #polls #poll tournament #tournament #anime tournament #animation #group stage #group stage round 2 #tournament polls #group l #akudama drive #bna: brand new animal #bna

[akilice]

I couldn't get this out of my head ever since I heard about Shirou's eyebrows

this probably happened in swap off screen

#swap au

[studentofetherium]

if you were going to see each Monogatari character paired with another character in a story which dynamics do you think would be most compelling?

i'm not sure if this is about characters within the series or crossovers so i'll do both

Koyomi: he already interacts with everything, so i'm skipping this one

Hitagi: a story with her and Koyomi's sisters could be interesting, since their personalities would be at odds with each other but also they already have that connecting factor

Mayoi: Suruga! i think the biggest missed opportunity in Monogatari is that we never saw Suruga and Mayoi interact in canon (and i'm certain that at least pre-Hana, Suruga could see Mayoi)

Suruga: ...well Mayoi would be the #1 but to go with someone else, i think it could be fun to see her hanging out with Tsukihi in some fashion, especially if she knows Tsukihi is an oddity

Nadeko: Sodachi! there's a lot of potential in their relationship, i think, and what little we've seen of their interactions are great

Tsubasa: we're shown that she has some sort of off-screen relationship with Koyomi's sisters so seeing more of that could be cool but Suruga is like the only character that Tsubasa never spends any meaningful amount of time around so i'm going with her

Karen: going for something more specific here but a Karen Ogre-type story involving Karen getting lost and Mayoi having to save her would be cool, and also would probably be better than the actual Karen Ogre arc

Tsukihi: i loved the short story where Tsukihi and Sodachi talk for a bit so i just want to see more of their life together because there's a lot implied there that just isn't shown

Yotsugi: coming up blank here sorry

Ougi: i think she should go on a road trip with Tsubasa

Sodachi: TSUBASA!! no further explanation needed

and for crossovers,

Koyomi: let's put him in a room with Shirou and lock them inside

Hitagi: Shiki Ryougi sorry a lot of these are going to be Nasuverse lmao

Mayoi: i'm not sure why but i keep coming back to Rika Higurashi. i'm not sure if there's actually much overlap between them, but the vibes fit, at least

Suruga: Suruga is a hard character because her to defining character traits are self-criticism and lesbianism and the latter is a bit shallow but i think Ciel might be interesting?

Nadeko: Sakura Matou. especially if it's post-Nadekomono Nadeko and post-HF Sakura

Tsubasa: a bit of a pan-Nisioisin crossover but her and Sharyu could have a lot of potential considering how much overlap there is. and i mean, Tsubasa has probably already met Sharyu anyway

Karen: once again i wanna see her with Shirou

Tsukihi: Hibiki Hibino. there has to be something to do with them both having supernatural hidden sides

Yotsugi: i think her and Hisui could be really funny

Ougi: i think horrible things would happen if she could talk to Maria Umineko for even five minutes

Sodachi: i think she deserves to join the Back Alley Alliance

#monogatari #tsukihime #<- because like half of these are from there anyway

[irishanimefan]

One Piece Anime Watchalong: East Blue Saga 2/6

Orange Town (Eps 4-8)

Started: 4/7/23 Finished: 5/7/23

We start this arc by flashback to reveal some of Luffy's past and how he got his Gum-Gum powers, and how he obtained the iconic straw hat. This was a good episode that makes us understand Luffy more and what makes him want to become the King of the Pirates. That is all because of Shanks, who we are introduced to in this episode. There's not a lot we know about Shanks, other than him being a mentor figure to Luffy, but from what little we did see I thought he was pretty cool. My favourite moment was the scene where Shanks give Luffy his straw hat before he leaves with his crew. The way Kohei Tanaka and Shirou Hamaguchi's epic score swells up leading up to the moment and the shot composition/storyboards (which I believe was done by Munehisa Sakai?) is incredible, with that wide shot of Shanks placing the hat on an emotional Luffy, with the faded white borders on each side framing both characters and the big expansive sky hinting at the bigger adventure these characters will embark upon. Chills! However, one issue I had with it was that, because Luffy's backstory is competing with setting up this upcoming arc with Buggy the Clown for screen time, the pacing of that felt a little rushed and wasn't able to get properly invested. Other than that, it was a great episode that had ripple effects throughout the arc.

Concerning the main plot of the arc, which our protagonists facing off against Buggy the Clown and having Nami join Luffy and Zoro towards the Grand Line, I thought it was really good! I stated in the last post that the villains were fine but didn't leave that big of an impression. Well, that's where Buggy comes into it, because I thought he was a great villain. He had such a goofy design with his, ahem, prominent feature that shall not be uttered unless you want to feel his wrath! Despite his appearance, he had a real threatening and deranged presence with his obsession with all things "flashy", with a laugh that gives you the creeps. Him also revealing to have Devil Fruit powers, specifically from the Chop-Chop fruit, while the reason why he ate the fruit is comical, it leads to some interesting techniques seen in the fight between him and Luffy.

This arc also gives us a proper introduction to Nami, what compelled her to become a thief, and, most significantly, her hatred of pirates and what they took from her. It's not explained exactly what those pirates did to her, but it's alluded that it must be something or someone that was important to her. This might be explored further later. As for what I thought of her in this arc, I liked how they showed her reluctance to join Luffy's crew and came to the point where his more honourable, or even naive, intentions ended up challenging her own biases against those who choose to become pirates. It went into more depth than Zoro in the last arc, who was more trusting of Luffy before breaking out of Captain Morgan's base. Even if they did save her from being killed, those biases still prevents her from trusting Luffy completely. However, the back and forth grappling with those preconceived notions became a bit repetitive after a while. Also, if I wanted to be pedantic, it is rich for a pirate to be lectured about by a thief, which Luffy does point out quite early on. Apart from that, looking forward to how she gels with the rest of the crew.

Some other thoughts I had about the arc: the subplot with Chouchou the dog in episode 6 pulled on the heartstrings. It was so moving to see him fight for something that's so dear to him and was the last reminder of his owner's existence. I also loved the bond Luffy formed with him and how it reminded him of his connection with the straw hat. The fight between Zoro and Cabadji was pretty decent, in the way it shows Zoro's tenacity and determination to beat an opponent who keeps repeatedly targeting the stab wound he sustained from Buggy earlier. They keep drawing the attention away from the fight to focus on other things, like Nami stealing the treasure and map, which it felt more padded than it actually was. Finally, seeing Luffy getting so worked up about Buggy damaging Shank's straw hat was so powerful, considering how he's been so carefree beforehand.

Overall, I did like this arc quite a bit. I'm looking forward to see what happens next when we come to Syrup Village!

#one piece #one piece anime #monkey d luffy #roronoa zoro #nami #usopp #sanji #straw hat pirates #orange town #watchalong

[zealsoughtsequesterustanxiedemon]

Issei Route would be too strong

A F/SN Issei route would be so good. First off, we'd get more Issei. Issei is actually a pretty fun character, he just has very little screentime. He's easy to tease. Rin is consistently in each route so she would be with them and it would be funny to have their banter back and forth. A fun bisexual love triangle (which F/SN already has). Would also be an interesting exploration of Shirou's sexism, cause now it's gonna be contrasted with Issei's different brand of sexism. Second off, bi Shirou. Would be funny to have Shirou come to terms with that, but part of me thinks that he would be barely phased at all. Like something he'd never thought about, but when the moments happened he'd be like "Oh, huh, that makes sense, feels natural". Like he'd probably blush heavily in the lovey-dovey scenes, but I feel like he'd very easily go with the flow the rest of the time and Issei would be the one blushing and reading into things too much. God, how would Archer react. Like, again, it could be something Shirou never even thought about, ever, too busy being a hero. Him watching Shirou and Issei fall in love would blow his mind. Third off, CASTER ROUTE. With Caster being true best girl of F/SN, but being already taken (sorry fellas and ladies), a route for her was never really an option. But since Issei is directly connected to her base and her partner, it gives an easy opportunity for more drama and clashes with her AND probably the best chance there'd ever be to team up with her. We'd get so much more screentime of her, we'd get to explore her trust issues, her complex about girls, etc.

It'd also just be nice for there to be more male characters that weren't antagonists. Not that's a bad thing in F/SN, just that it'd be nice for Shirou to have more positive relationships with men on screen.

#fate #shirou emiya #issei ryuudou #caster #zealthoughts

[sanctummilitis]

 ARTORIA/ARTURIA PENDRAGON (SABER) ♚ MISTIFIED

spoilers for lostbelt 7: Nahui Mictlan included!

[Saber voice] ah shit, here we go again.

fortunately for her, things won’t be as rough this time, and the main focus is incorporating Fate/Labyrinth into her canon history. this run will also take advantage of Melty Blood Type Lumina’s release and give Saber the memory of that jump across the Nasuverse, though cutting off at the end of her story while engaging Arcueid, seeing as there isn’t anything on her actually returning to the Fate universe.

RESIDUAL DATA IMPRINTS

FATE/LABYRINTH — a sidestory to Prototype, focusing on the Subcategory Holy Grail War wherein Saber is summoned as Manaka Sayjou’s spirit in possession of another girl unfolding in The Seventh Labyrinth of Caubac Alcatraz.

ANTARCTICA — Chaldea headquarters, but not at you know it. rather than the final bastion of humanity from the Time Temple arc or the frozen relic of the Lostbelts, the state of the site comes instead from the upcoming Ordeal Call arc, with Chaldeas matching its appearance there and the post-Tunguska title screen.

SENTIENT DATA IMPRINTS

MANAKA SAJYOU — the Master of Prototype’s Saber, the male Arthur, Manaka became the same for his female counterpart. after growing up with a lack of emotions, she quickly found love for the male Arthur which spiralled into obsession and madness, leading to slaughter in order to awaken the Beast without sacrificing her own Servant. without him present, those traits aren’t so exposed, but anyone with a good judge of character will know she’s much more than she appears.

MEDEA, CURSED ARM HASSAN & ROBIN HOOD — allied Servants who not only join but carry on in Saber’s stead after she departs the story; Medea and Cursed Arm might also have been part of the Fifth Fuyuki Grail Wars, but the wipe of typical Servants deprives them of the memory and, in line with their role, they’ll accompany Manaka’s imprint

KIRITSUGU EMIYA — Shirou’s adoptive father and Saber’s Master from the Fourth Holy Grail War. unlike the former, Saber’s relationship with Kiritsugu was strained to say the very least, and though Shirou might have held firm his resolve to save everyone, Kiritsugu’s acceptance that the task is simply impossible might just be relevant to everything Saber’s gone through since the original Mistified (they won’t tear into each other for once, promise).

BOSS ENEMY — ORT XIBALBA

to prevent the city winding up an entire island of crystal, ORT here will follow the example of its in-game incarnation since the backstory to Lostbelt 7, and continues to in Pan-Human History. that being, it’ll remain stationary and won’t move so much as an inch unless provoked — in which case, it’ll repel whoever tries their luck like flicking an ant off your arm. billed as the strongest entity in the system, Nasu’s unbeatable enemy, you wouldn’t be able to scratch it anyway.

#♚RENEWAL 5. #♚mistified #FGO spoilers

[madillhethen]

I like him but I hate him.

You know in the old days there was a theory of Archer in UBW being the Shirou from Fate Route and the Shirou from UBW being the Archer in Heaven’s Feel (I think that was disproven long ago) but I’m surprised that the only Archer debate for Nameless is that he’s UBW/FSN Archer and not anything with this is Fate Route Shirou considering its Fate Route Shirou who has a bad relationship with Kirei and Shinji which Archer has alluded to twice in Extra. Archer really had nothing to do with either of those characters as a heroic spirit. (And Shirou and Archer had little to do with Kirei in UBW/HF. Actually Archer had little to do with Kirei in any route except HF off-screen.)

#Mad's Fate Extra #fate extra #nameless route #week 4 #nameless: howl of the blue moon #kirei kotomine #shirou emiya #archer emiya #nameless

[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

#ACLA24 #ACLA24Leaders #youtube #youtube video #climate leaders #climate solutions #climate action #climate and environment #climate #climate change #climate and health #climate blog #climate justice #climate news #weather and climate #environmental news #environment #environmental awareness #environment and health #environmental #environmental issues #environmental justice #environment protection #environmental health #Youtube

[nazumichi]

ALL YOUR WIPS INTRIGUE ME BTW BUT. just gonna choose ONE bc otherwise i will send u an ask for every wip FJSKFJSK so please PLEASE tell me (show me?) more abt hey there deomns <3<3

[id: a drawing of nazuna, michiru, pingua, marie, and shirou in multiple colors. they stand in that order, close together, all looking at something off-screen in various degrees of shock. end id.]

so you know those images of the people being so scared in haunted houses WGWFWWFWDDWF. yeah. hey there demons. it’s me. five furries without a brain cell between them. I couldn’t finish it when I wanted because I was having a brush crisis, but there is this and another one with michiru, nazuna and nina!! In case you couldn’t tell I like putting characters in haunted house/bfu-adjacent settings hwgwhfwgwf.

wip game!!

#ask #nyx 🐈‍⬛ tag #pingua feels guilty for making them go through with this (wanted to check out cool things in the city because he’s a newbie) #so he pays for the chilis trip afterwards. yeah. I feel like shirou would be very composed the whole time (until michiru #latches onto their back screaming) michiru’s like “yeah no I’m not afraid of anything I’ll protect u naz” *stomps lightup shoes* #and then they’re both screaming (I feel like nazuna is the kind of person who laughs when they’re afraid) pingua almost morphs #every five minutes slapping marie in the face (who is using shirou as a shield and his internal monologue is “is she ok was this a bad idea #I haven’t seen her like this before what should I—” and she’s playing 4d chess in her head like “ok who’s expendable”)

[ultraericthered]

Anime Update V2 21

Noragami Aragoto - After spending some downtime with the whole family dynamic of Yato and his friends, which is always something I love to see, we got a sharp contrast with Yato’s original family; his crazy sister (Nora) who sics maksed phantoms on him and abducts him to bring back to their father, who (we think) we don’t see in the episode, Nora has Yato kill a convict who’d killed someone's child.

Hunter x Hunter - Watched through the whole Zoldyck Family drama that caps off the Hunter Exam arc. Not much different between the two versions aside from some stuff added and subtracted, I think Canary was better developed in the 1999 anime but I liked the presentation of Killua’s parents better in the 2011 anime (especially with Michelle Ruff and Chris Tergliafera as their voices). And in both versions the lead family butler, Gotoh, was splendid in both versions. The sleight-of-hand game with the coin had my eyes glued to the screen the whole time. After getting Killua back, Leorio and Kurapika take their leave for real this time, headed off for York New City and agreeing to meet with Gon and Killua there on September 1. Until then, Gon and Killua are left to find the Hunter Exam’s true final trial.

Fruits Basket - It’s Valentines Day and White Day, back to back.

2001 - Kagura made her first return and oh my God, how is she this fucking precious in this? In the same episode, we abruptly end the Valentines Day stuff and go straight to White Day, where Tohru, Yuki, Kyo, and Momiji go stay at the Sohma Family-owned hot springs resort and we just get more filler shennanigans not from the manga. 

2019 - Kagura’s return in this version brought back the painful “Kyo acts like he’s very afraid of Kagura and it’s played straight yet then Kagura’s rage and violence towards him is played for laughs “ shtick, but Kagura was surprisingly bearable to be with after that. Not only did we get the Valentines Day “double date” that the first anime left out, but it was part of an episode largely centered around Shigure and showing us glimpses at his more sinister nature, which is just not present in 2001 Shigure and puts things in a more serious tone so of course it got axed from the first anime. The following White Day hot springs visit reminded me of why 2019 Momiji’s German accent really makes the character come more alive compared to the 2001 version.

Also, that Tale of the Foolish Traveler that Momiji tells in both version is legit one of the most disturbingly fucked up short stories I’ve ever heard and it surprises me that Natsuki Takeya just made it up.

Rozen Maiden - Watched the two part finale. Rozen Maiden making me cry was, to me, even less likely than Assassination Classroom making me cry, yet it fucking happened! I don’t want to get into when or why, I’ll just say that the main part that did it involved Jun and Nori, and there was another part that has someone burning to death that got me too. And even that aside, this finale was very well done and capped this show off in a satisfactory way, though the final battle at points due to where it was set was giving me flashbacks to the final battle of Noragami Season 1, which this predated, I know, but still.

Fate/Stay Night - Also watched the two part finale to this anime, which regretfully wasn’t nearly as satisfying. As riveting as the final battles of Saber VS Gilgamesh and Shirou VS Kirei were to watch, the driving plot and character motivations behind them just felt sort of shallow. For instance, we’ve barely seen Kirei in this anime despite his voice always narrating the Next Ep previews, yet now he’s the cause of how the last Holy Grail War ended, the evil mastermind behind what’s been going on in this war, AND the one who killed Shirou’s father? All revealed to us with little breathing room. And of course several loose ends such as what was going on between Rin and Sakura go unresolved - they even had the gall to show us that shot of Zouken in the special end credits! So while I can certainly say I liked and enjoyed this show, it simply wasn’t all that great overall.

Revolutionary Girl Utena - Last two episodes of the Black Rose arc, at least prior to the next recap special.....nope! Not even going to ATTEMPT to describe what I watched here! @animebw already covered it in extensive detail much better than I could (though I will say that my interpretation differs slightly in that I don’t think Souji Mikage actually was Nemuro, I think he’s the idealized memory of Nemuro as he saw himself in his youth, an idealization that was so strong that it lingered and took on a life on its own long after Nemuro was gone. Which is why when it came time for him and the “Nemuro Memorial Hall” fantasy he was sustaining to vanish, it all vanished.)

Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Club S2 - Yu had a day out with Shizuku to an idol exhibit, Ayumu and Setsuna actually teamed up to follow her and insert themselves into it, we ran into Lanzhu there and got another clash of ideals between her and Yu, and there was a weird Beauty and the Beast play that the girls acted out towards the end there. Ayumu later tells Yu that she thought she didn’t feel like she could be in a unit until she performed with Setsuna and Shizuku.

MAR - Ginta and Jack are now training elsewhere, so the first fight in the next round, set in a desert battlefield, goes to Snow, who proves to be as sharp, resiliant, and badass as she is adorable. Go Snow!

AMC: Tengen Tonpa Gurren Lagann & Kill La Kill - Watched an episode of both these Studio Trigger shows. In the former I got to see the debut of the Black Siblings and the hilarity of Kamina’s incessent pressuring of Simon to “combine” with him to form Gurren Lagann again, which they do when fighting against a Beastman that the crew had tried to eat before knowing what it was, yes really. This show dared to be extra stupid in its first half and I’m always there for it. Then in the latter I got the rather famous episode where Ryuko and Mako try to apply a “two birds with one stone” solution to the Honouji Clubs antagonism and the Makanshou family’s poor living conditions by starting a Fight Club, which works too well and turns Mako into a total douche overnight, and eventually she’s given a Goku uniform by Satsuki and fights Ryuko, leading to a big climax and resolution that’s as heartwarming as it is absurd. And then it turns out this entire tme, Satsuki was using Ryuko for some house cleaning. ‘Cuz of course.

#Anime Update #Anime Update V2

[cantillat-moved]

GET TO KNOW THE MUN.

what’s your phone wallpaper : My phone background right now is the end screen of Fate/Extra during the Nameless route. I liked the image so much that I adapted it and lever changed it. My lock screen are some sakura trees because I need to pretend to be an adult ™ sometimes. My regular computer desktop rotates but right now is a fanart that I adapted for wallpaper with Shirou and Saber, I think this one is so soothing it is one of my favorites. I do want to get a second monitor for work but I lack the physical space and the means for now.

last song you listened to: Last Surprise. I actually was singing it for my class like 10 minutes ago or so.

last movie : I’ve been watching a few movies related to my muses. Last one was King Arthur – Legend of the Sword (2017) and the next on the list is Excalibur, the 30th Anniversary remastered. Or maybe the movie adaptation of root Letter, I’m curious to see how much they ruined a Japanese visual novel with 5-6 wildly different routes into one indie 'murican movie.

last show : Besides the Arthurian movies I have actually rewatched a few older series, namely David Suchet’s Poirot. I also have a backlog of other series I want to watch, like Camelot, and of course anime. There are so many good animes that people kept on recommending but for one reason or another I didn’t watch when they were new.

what are you wearing right now : A deep forest green tricot blouse and black trousers, I just came back from my singing classes and I’ll be leaving again in a few hours. I merely switched my shoes for something more comfortable, namely fluffy grey carpet slippers. It is a little chilly where I live so there’s that.

piercings / tattoos? : I have the old regular earlobe piercing.  I haven’t used earrings in a while, I used to live in a very dangerous city where if you moved around on foot (like I did) it could be dangerous to have jewelry. So I grew out of the habit and only use in some occasions.

glasses ? contacts? : I’ve wore glasses my entire life, since I was… 9 ? 10 ? Something like that. Sadly I couldn’t get used to contacts, and I’m pretty much blind without my glasses. I’m so used to them that it is weird not wearing them.

last thing you ate? : Fish’n chips for lunch. Well, the fish was salmon, does it counts as fish’n chips ? I also grabbed some fancy chocolate on my way out of my class to treat myself and my family.

favorite color(s) : I love shades of blue and green. My favorite is blue green, a bit like turquoise. People say that I look great in red and I also appreciate the color. For a very long time my closet had mostly black outfits until one day I was like “Hmmm… looks like I’m working at a funeral home” instead of having a slightly gothic or rocker style, so I started adding colors. I don’t like browns, it is very unlikely anyone will ever see me wearing that color.

current obsession : A few obsessions, actually. I have been a huge fan of Fate since the pre-release materials, the first time I saw this small preview of the game with the graphic of Archer sitting on the couch I knew I had to play that. It has always been on and off in my mind since 2003-2004-ish.

I’m also a huge fan of the Frogwares games based on Sherlock Holmes and I’m halfway through beating all the titles. Book-wise, I’ve got this beautiful leather-bond collection of all of his stories and I’m reading one a day every day. It is always fun to figure out elements of the story as it is presented. I have read the stories when I was 13 to 15 years, so I have forgotten most of it.

Stardew Valley always have my attention, I love making themed farms. One of my last farms is vineyard-themed with lots of cottagecore and I just managed to get grandpa’s four candles approval ! My oldest farm actually has true perfection and I even saw the “ending” in the cliff. Right now I’m focusing on getting regular perfection on Arthur’s farm (yes, Proto Saber, I even made the graphic assets for him).

do you have a crush right now? : I’m a boring ace aro. But I have been working on loving myself a little more and appreciating life. I have been raised to believe that I was never good enough, that nothing I did would ever be good. It takes baby steps and a lot of trying to rewire my mind; so starting to stop to appreciate my surroundings. The sound of a sleeping dog in your bedroom during the cold nights, my hibiscus that bloomed overnight, reaching the right tone in a difficult song. I might still find it hard to appreciate my own accomplishments, people in my life like to put me down, but as long it makes me happy I’ll keep on doing that.

favorite fictional character : Have a wild guess. I’ve always loved Emiya Shirou (and Archer) and their mindset, it made me rethink my life many times and also taught me a lot, specially when I started studying Zen and Buddhism. Waver Velvet is someone that I also feel right into my soul. But let’s step away from my muses in this blog and all the muses I rped as previously. Squall Leonhart (Final Fantasy VIII), Yuri Hyuga and Alice Elliot (Shadow Hearts), Zack Fair and Tseng (Final Fantasy VII and Crisis Core), the entire playable cast of the Persona 2 duology (LET’S POSITIVE THINKING !! ), I miss the Young Justice comics (the original one from the early 2000s), so many characters from the Fate series, Rei Hino (Sailor Moon), Raidou Kuzunoha (megaten), Aqua (Kingdom Hearts)… I have so many favorites.

tagged by: I stole it from Rae ( @more-than-a-princess ) because it had been a hot minute since I did anything like that.

tagging: If you are wearing clothes right now and haven't done it in a while, I'm tagging you.

#. mun stuff

[bagel-in-a-box]

The place holder shirou emiya I have as my Home Screen has been there so long now I don’t have the heart to take him off now

#text