#shoumetsu toshi

[jira-chii]

On Spiderverse, Shoumetsu and the nature of canon

Ok, you don’t need me to say it. Across the Spiderverse is amazing: the visuals are gorgeous, the animation is out of this world, the music is beautiful, and while the story is definitely fun, it also strikes a chord with a lot of its audience.

I’m just adding to the countless posts out there, but I really want to share some thoughts about how Spiderverse deals with ‘canon’, an idea so integral to the concept of a ‘story’ that without it, characters’ worlds literally break to pieces.

This idea is incredibly interesting to me because my favourite game, Shoumetsu Toshi explores a very similar concept - and its story has finished! So we can explore it fully and maybe come up with some new insights on what direction Spiderverse 3 could take? 

Spoiler warning for midway through Across the Spiderverse (which I am abbreviating to Spiderverse 2). And spoilers for the ending of Shoumetsu Toshi, including Epilogue.

Deviating from canon in Spiderverse ruins that world

So, I admit I am not a diehard Spiderman fan compared to some of you, but many features of the ‘traditional’ Spiderman story are familiar to me: the powers come from a radioactive spider; there is usually a great feat of strength involving the Spiderman pulling two large objects together; at some point they have to choose between saving a loved one or saving the lives of the general public; and of course, there are those famous dying words: “with great power comes great responsibility”. 

These features have been reused, recycled, readapted so many times as to basically become tropes. And Spiderverse makes full use of this, both as easter eggs and as a story mechanic.

In Spiderverse 2, these events are known as ‘canon’ events. They are the integral events that basically define what could be considered ‘authentic’ Spidermen

But, what happens when canon is broken? Well, they show that in the movie. The world, representing the story of that particular Spiderman, collapses in on itself and basically is destroyed. Because the story is over. There is no more to see. The implication is that things that don’t belong to canon disappear.

In the context of Spiderverse 2, this serves as the motive for almost all Spidermen to alienate Miles, the anomaly, the deviant from canon. It is also an excellent way to reinforce his insecurity that he doesn’t belong anywhere.

What happens to a story when it 'ends'?

Just like in Spiderverse 2, the concept of a story plays a major role in Shoumetsu Toshi. The Japanese mobile game starts off as something of an action adventure mystery, as a courier takes a young girl with mysterious powers to the aftermath of a disaster. But around the halfway point, you’ll realise that was never intended to be the point at all. Shoumetsu Toshi is essentially a study of the nature of storytelling.

Fairly early in the story, main characters Takuya and Yuki find out they are being ‘observed’ and controlled by a God-like being (us, the players), and beg us to help them overcome impossible odds to defeat the enemy in front of them and complete their goal.

And we do! But guess what happens when they reach their end goal? Tragedy befalls them again, as another story unfolds for us to ‘observe’. 

(This is not my photo, this is literally a screenshot from the game)

Watching the story continue starts to become synonymous with making the protagonists suffer, something that is made painfully evident in Yuki’s monologues.

In fact, seeing the story continue into infinity is the desire of the final antagonist, Beo, a stand-in for us god-like Observers, and someone who will go as far as to artificially manufacture conflict himself just to see how Takuya and Yuki will resolve it. 

The final goal of the main story then becomes figuring out a way to end the canon story. In a way it is a fascinating critique on (the sadly too many) stories that continue way past the point they were meant to end, just for the sake of more content for an audience willing to pay.

But then, what happens when do finally get to the end?

We get a couple of lines about the world becoming peaceful…for a while. And then, it gets destroyed.

It’s not made clear exactly why it happened, but the fact the attacker is a giant invincible tarot card with Beo’s image implies this is the will of the Observers. The characters, in their last moments, lament how quickly the world can still take what little happiness they have away from them. It’s worth mentioning that ‘Shoumetsu’ literally means to disappear, or be annihilated.

If we take a Beo-like Observer’s perspective, could this be saying that a story that doesn’t continue has no value in existing?

Isn’t it kind of similar to how once canon is broken in Spiderverse, the world has no choice but to collapse on itself? Because there is no more story beyond canon for the world to support.

What actually happens to a story when it ends? The characters in the story, as well as all the events that have happened until then, the entire world, the universe contained within that story, also end, right? That seems to be what happened in Shoumetsu Toshi. And it seems to be what the other Spidermen in the Spiderverse are actively trying to avoid.

It’s an interesting conundrum. To save everyone else’s worlds, Miles basically cannot be allowed to coexist alongside them.

I am very excited to see where Spiderverse 3 takes their story. I have no doubt they will come up with a poignant and creative way to resolve the conflict. Perhaps a way for Miles to trailblaze a new story just for himself; a twist on the original canon that is just as legitimate as any other Spiderman’s story.

But while we wait for that, I want to share Shoumetsu Toshi’s answer to a very similar problem, from chapter one of its epilogue.

How Shoumetsu Toshi chose to end its story

At the start of Epilogue, Takuya and Yuki are separated. Takuya (with Yuki’s brother Souma), attempts to move forward even when nothing is left in front of him. Yuki, on the other hand, follows a voice and finds herself in a triangular room with many doors. She then has a conversation. Literally facing the fourth wall. Talking directly to us.

Yuki talks about how she’s wanted to meet us, and that she is grateful to us for always cheering her on. But also, she does not want to be the one being observed anymore. She knows the Observers want the story to continue forever, but she doesn’t want that. She invites the Observers to come with her to the end of the journey, and find their happy ending together.

At some point, the voices of the Observers become a single voice - the voice of the first Observer, Sora, who is also the creator of this story.

Sora fears the end of the story. She doesn’t want to say goodbye to the characters she loves. Yuki will disappear if the story ends and she is forgotten.

But Yuki says that won’t happen. She will always be here (just in a place you can’t see her). No longer being together doesn’t mean the past never happened. They are connected now, through the journey they have taken together. 

Sora is actually afraid of being left alone. She has been using Shoumetsu Toshi as a form of escapism. But all good things must come to an end, and while continuing the story has its own value, Shoumetsu Toshi teaches us there is meaning as well in waking up from the dream and embracing the reality in front of you. That’s what it means to live.

Sora, Yuki, Takuya and Souma then open the doors to the epilogue together, embarking on one last journey to save their friends, tie up loose ends, and drive the story towards a true happy ending.

The end of canon is a gift

I want to pause for a moment here and talk about what the game creators are implying through this message. Basically, when the canon story ends, these characters and ideas don’t 'die'. A part of them remains with us, the Observers. And in a way, that means they surpass canon.

The creators want their characters to keep living on, through us, the players. And this is consistent with many other aspects of the game: from parallel worlds that serve as a convenient explanation for nonsensical April Fools situations and collaborative crossovers to exist (X X X), to their willingness to literally write a fan's OC into a canon ranking event. Heck, one of the chapters in the main story is straight up fanfiction of Takuya and Yuki, played off as a dream. 

Shoumetsu Toshi is a story the creators want to share with their audience. They actively encourage fan participation to shape and add a new layer of meaning to the game, in ways both good (like 'saving' a character at a live event to enable their story to continue) and bad (audience voting killed off a different character).

Shoumesu Toshi’s main message is ultimately a love letter to future creators. This is a story they want to share with you. This is a story they want you to pass on. Canon has provided the foundation, but now the rest is in the Observer’s hands. 

The characters will thank you in game, but they will live on, in the fanart, the fanfiction, the stories inspired by it, created by the Observers, the fans.

And I think this is the perfect way for a 'story' like this to ‘continue’. Canon is not everything. Canon is a gift to the imagination. The true power of canon is to inspire even greater creativity. 

It is rare to see such a positive and respectful message aimed directly at the fans embedded so deeply in the identity of a game, and I really want to see these messages more often in mainstream media.

How wonderful would it be if the ending of Spiderverse touches on this message even just a little bit? Spiderman is a franchise with such a long history, spanning so many stories, so many worlds, so many different types of media, touched by the hands of so many creators, and touching the hearts of so, so many more fans. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to find a way to pay tribute to every single one of them? Regardless whether they are young or old, liked the comics or preferred the movies, a Marvel or Sony fan, diehard lore loyalist or secretly have their own Spiderman OC, whether they express their love through art, fiction, roleplay, or even just daydreams.

I just think it’d be really cool.

Sorry one more thing:

While I was going through old screenshots to research for this post, I realised the finalisation of Souma’s character arc is incredibly similar to Miles’ dilemma. Souma is the first antagonist of Shoumetsu Toshi, who goes through a redemption arc and basically joins the main character roster by the end. However, in Epilogue, he gets told over and over again by another version of himself that the plot will refuse to progress unless he sacrifices himself. That’s just how the story is meant to go. 

When I have time, maybe I'll write this bonus case study.

But if you want to read (a lot) more on Shoumetsu Toshi, I have summaries of the first two parts of main story here and here.

Unfortunately I haven't gotten around to writing any more story summaries yet, but for those who are curious about Epilogue, I did make a fangirl tweet when I first played it.

#analysis #comparative study #across the spiderverse #spiderman #shoumetsu toshi #essay #storytelling #canon #fandom #long post

[chamclub]

消滅都市/AFTER LOST

キズナちゃんに白いワンピースを着せたかった

👗お借りしたVRoid衣装

夏っぽお嬢さんレースコーデ/狐ぽじっと店狐ぽじっと店様

├https://komposite.booth.pm/items/4864775

#消滅都市 #shoumetsu toshi #kizuna #vroid #vroid studio #fanmade #vroid model

[kaisenkakiage]

消滅都市に登場するブリキの正体について

｜海鮮かきあげ | Kaisen-Kakiage (note.com)

#消滅都市 #shoumetsu toshi #afterlost

[fujitamaiko-lyrics]

Wayback Machine has a backup of the link for her song (in full), titled Hikari.

It was the image song for the Mainland Chinese release of the GREE smartphone game, Shoumetsu Toshi.

#audio #藤田麻衣子 #消滅都市 #shoumetsu toshi #wayback machine #fujita maiko #maiko fujita

[va--fail]

Old event from game “Shoumetsu Toshi 0.” with Psycho-Pass characters.

#psycho pass #psycho-pass #shoumetsu toshi #akane tsunemori #shinya kogami #shinya kougami #nobuchika ginoza #tomomi masaoka #yayoi kunizuka #shusei kagari #shion karanomori #shogo makishima #arata shindo #kei mikhail ignatov #i posted because it looks cool

[maidoftheday]

Today’s Maid of the Day: Shirako Miso from Shoumetsu Toshi 

#mobile game #shirako miso #shoumetsu toshi #afterlost #maid of the day

[sonnaiikanjisubs]

Here is the second part of the Shoumetsu Toshi live reading.

Thank you @raku-fansubs for the help.

#Aimi #Nakae Mitsuki #Seiyuu #Eng Subs #Translation #Sonna Ii Kanji Subs #Shoumetsu Toshi #Kikyou #Yumiko #Researcher #Terakawa Aimi #Live Reading

[hazukashi-yui]

So I decided to continue with my anime watch list going into spring. Also if anyone has any recommendations please feel free to comment or message me  (´• ω •`) ♡ 

Alright starting with: Spring 2019 Tv series   

yatogame-chan kansatsu nikki

Kaito Jin a student who moved to Aichi from Tokyo. He meets Monaka Yatogami, who has a heavy Nagoya dialect, and he learns about Nagoya through joining the photography club. This looks pretty cute.

Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu

Hitori Bocchi suffers from extreme social anxiety, and her only friend makes her promise to befriend all of her classmates so they can continue being friends. I relate with this anime on a spiritual level. Hitori is so awkward and it is adorable.

Kimetsu no Yaiba 

Tanjirou finds his family slaughtered and the lone survivor, his sister Nezuko, turned into a demon. To his surprise, however, Nezuko still shows signs of human emotion and thought. Tanjirou's begins his quest to fight demons and turn his sister human again. HYPE

Senryuu Shoujo

Yukishiro Nanako writes poems (Senryuu) to relay her thoughts. Together with ex-delinquent Busujima Eiji, they are having fun in the literature club. There is so much cute anime this season <3

Fruits Basket 2019

A remake of the original Fruits basket

Midara na Ao-chan wa Benkyou ga Dekinai

Ao whose father writes erotic literature has hate for men in general and wants to get move far away to go to university but is confessed to by her classmate Kijima. 

Shoumetsu Tishi

Takuya and Yuki travel together to unravel the mystery of how a city disappeared. SUGITA TOMOKAZU  <3 <3

Kono Oto Tomare

Takezou ends up being the sole member of the "Koto" club. Now that the new school year has begun, Takezou will have to seek out new members into the club, or the club will become terminated.

RoboHatchi

Two complete opposites end up working together to locate  Isekandar, a distant and legendary planet. Also, Sugita is going to do a theme song performance so yes, please. 

One Punch man 

Second Season For One Punch man

Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san

The everyday life of Nakano, a salaryman working for an exploitative company, is suddenly intruded upon by the fox, Senko-san (800-year-old little girl). 

Carole & Tuesday 

Carole is scraping by trying to become a musician and Tuesday a wealthy girl that dreams of becoming a musician but no one understands her.  A chance meeting brings them together. They want to sing. They want to make music. Together, they feel like they just might have a chance. The voice cast looks really good. 

Bungou Stray Dogs 

3rd Season !!!

Sarazanmai

Honestly, this shows premise is so weird but the voice cast is amazing so I am adding this because of Mamo’s character in a police uniform. 

Shingeki no Kyojin

Part 2 of season 3 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ongoing Series from Winter 2019 

jojo's bizarre adventure

Dororo

This season does a few more shows added but I will try to keep up to date with new episodes and reblog all shows listed. Thanks For reading this lengthy monster of post. 

#Spring anime 2019 #yatogame-chan kansatsu nikki #hitoribocchi no ○○ seikatsu #kimetsu no yaiba #senryuu shoujo #fruits basket 2019 #midara na ao-chan wa benkyou ga dekinai #shoumetsu toshi #kono oto tomare! #robihachi #one punch man #sewayaki kitsune no senko-san #carole and tuesday #bungou stray dogs #sarazanmai #shingeki no kyojin #jjba #dororo

[thecrazyanimegirl]

Spring Anime 2019

Aaand another season is over! We didn’t end up watching a ton of stuff this season though. It had some absolute gems, but mostly only ok new anime. Of course, everything was saved by dororo and shield hero continuing from the last season and finally new seasons of bsd, aot and opm ♡♡♡

{ Winter ‘18 }  { Spring ‘18 }  { Summer ‘18 }  { Fall ‘18 }  { Winter ‘19 }

Blade of Demon Destruction

From the first moment I saw the trailer I knew this one is bound to be good. The anime is directed by Ufotable and has a unique art style. Somewhat slow paced at the beginning but later on becomes really cool and shows great character development. Definitely would recommend!

Carole and Tuesday 

Yes, you should watch this! Great music, great characters, loved it! It’s not plot heavy, it follows two completely different girls as they pursue their dream of becoming a musician and they develop the most soft and warm friendship. The humour is good, the music is amazing (even though everything didn’t have to be in English, but it still sounded good)! A feel-good anime all the time. (oh yea, and they have kamiya hiroshi as a voice for a side character so that’s always a plus)

Fruits Basket

Well since it’s a remake, I guess a lot of people already know about this anime. There are a lot of lovable and unique characters. The new animation is good, quite different from the old one. I really like it (and the old one too!) ^^ Plot is interesting too, and not just because they turn into animals! I think most people who like shoujo anime will like it ^^

Magi’s Grandson 

It’s pretty classical isekai anime. A guy is born in a new world and, guess what, he is overpowered. Nothing new, but it still doesn’t mean it’s bad. It is good anime for those who like this kind of isekai. I like it because it’s great for relaxing, at least for me. It’s not really a must watch anime or anything, but for light comedy it is okay.

Magmel of the Sea Blue

This anime is refreshingly original. The main characters are interesting and lovable. I guess it’s a lot about the human stupidity in the face of the unknown? Comedy is good and every episode is something new. I don’t know if people like this kind of anime, but I recommend it ^^ 

Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin

Ever wondered how would the world function if mythical creatures were actually real? Then dive into this anime and follow the three guys from the screenshot as they work for a secret agency which controls relations with otherworldly creatures. The animation is okay and the characters are pretty lovable so if you are into this stuff, you will definitely like it!

Namu Amida Butsu!: Rendai Utena  

The first thing you will think of this one is “This anime is a lot like Touken Ranbu Hanamaru”. Yep, the characters are beautiful quirky gods and incredibly funny so if you liked the latter anime, this one will definitely shake you off the chair. 

RobiHachi  

Comedy, space, some action, lovable characters - a good combination ^^ It’s not the kind of anime that sweeps you off your feet, it doesn’t have a keeps-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat plot (just two guys and a robot visiting planets and running away from a debt collector), but it has a certain charm and will make you laugh (probably at least lol). The main characters have good chemistry, the main “villain” is hilarious and all in all, a pretty ok anime. 

Sarazanmai

Amazing, a work of art, love it, go watch it! Yea, it’s not really for everybody, since at first it just seems as someone just threw some nonsense together and the butts are everywhere (since there are creatures called kappa that steal people’s shirikodama that’s located in one’s butt). BUT! I still implore you to give this a shot! As the episodes go on, you notice that everything has a deeper meaning, the characters are amazing and complex and the seriousness and comedy blends so well together! I both laughed my ass off, wanted to cry and felt all warm inside! Right, it also has great voice actors ^^

Senryuu Girl 

It’s a very cute and short anime. A lot of unique characters interact with each other and it makes a really cute romantic/friendly vibe. It’s one of those anime that don’t really have a plot, but they leave you with a warm feeling. Because it’s really short, you won’t lose anything by watching it ^^

Shoumetsu Toshi 

You don’t lose absolutely anything if you don’t watch this. The underlining story about a whole town inexplicably disappearing with a sole survivor of a girl with special powers is really good, but the execution is pretty bad. (I was positive that two red-heads were the same person the first like four episodes and I was mega confused) The characters just don’t click and don’t have the immediate appeal and the story drags on with weird pacing. It’s not terrible, not amazing either. 

Stop This Sound

This is so soft! And warm! Their friendship is amazing, every character is both strong and sensitive, they have flaws and insecurities but they support each other all the time. It really shows how there is more to people that the stereotypes people pin on them - delinquents, a spoiled rich girl, a pushover, but they are none of that. Absolutely love this, the story, the characters, the music (the koto sounds so good) and the simple fact that they don’t drag the drama out. Instead, they solve everything with support and compassion. 

Dropped:  Ao-chan Can't Study!,  Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu, We Never Learn,  YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of This World        

#spring anime 2019 #blade of demon destruction #sarazanmai #carole & tuesday #fruits basket #magi's grandson #fairy gone #magmel of the sea blue #mayonaka no occult koumuin #namu amida butsu!: rendai utena #robihachi #senryuu girl #shoumetsu toshi #stop this sound!

[kengamers]

Yesterday I discovered an incredible event that made me move from the game of shometsu toshi, a collaboration directly from pysho pass with the characters of the series, makishima shogo that I could expect (beautiful) but then I saw her😍 I was moved. rikako ouryou and still in people's hearts, I can't believe it and beautiful, this art deserves it all who knows maybe one day they will also introduce choe-gu sung and senguji toyohisa ehehe.

#ken gamers #psycho pass #psycho pass rikako oryo #psycho pass rikako ouryou #psycho pass makishima #psycho pass makishima shogo #psycho pass collaboration #psycho pass shometsu #rikako oryo #makishima shogo #rikako ouryou #shometsu #shometsu psycho pass #shoumetsu toshi #shoumetsu toshi rikako oryo #shoumetsu toshi mashima shogo #shoumetsu toshi psycho pass #shoumetsu toshi collaboration #サイコパス #消滅都市

[jira-chii]

Pt 4 mainly fanart

#the legend of zelda #marchen awakens romance #Shoumetsu toshi #critical role #elsword #disney inspired #Doodles #Sketches

[chamclub]

スマホゲーム『消滅都市』に登場するメシエの3Dモデルを作ってみました。

◆お借りしたテクスチャ素材

髪のテクスチャ

【VRoid 正式版】アロエ式つや髪テクスチャ10色セット/アロエ商店様

https://booth.pm/ja/items/3688395

瞳のテクスチャ

【VRoid向け瞳テクスチャ】宇宙スイング★バイカラーアイ/なお屋 [Nao-ya]様

https://7a04m.booth.pm/

#消滅都市 #shoumetsu toshi #メシエ #vroid #fanmande #shoumetsutoshi #vroid studio #vroid model #messier

[kaisenkakiage]

第7回目(2023年04月24日(月) ～ 2023年04月28日(金) )の復刻開催

ランキング『浪漫世界シリヰズ 研究鼎士友誼譚』のプレイ動画です。

珍しく総合入りしました。

動画では1：10、自己最速1：09でした。

総合46位　月間の総合順位236位

右下の立ち絵はもばちょぽ様に個人依頼させていただきました。

#消滅都市 #shoumetsu toshi #浪漫世界シリヰズ 研究鼎士友誼譚 #ランキング

[inputanimeoutput]

Thoughts On: Afterlost (Dub)

Overall Assessment

Let’s not speak of this again || Awful || Bad || Okay || Entertaining || Good || Better than Expected || Really Good || Amazeballs || What is this vision of glory I’ve witnessed?!

With some time on my hands, I ran the random number generator and picked a series I’d stalled to continue watching.  Afterlost was that series, and I chose to watch the dub as I’d stalled the series initially because it just didn’t hold my interest enough to watch while having tor read subtitles, and the dub for this was pretty good.

On the whole, this series starts of with a premise a lot like Darker Than Black.  A cataclysmic event located in a specific area that remains otherworldly and dangerous for people and whose existence has created a race of overpowered humans who didn’t exist previously.  In Darker Than Black, they’re the Contractors, and in Afterlost their the Tamashi.

Then the narrative takes a dive into something alongside Steins;Gate, with characters dipping into the past in order to collect information and change things that need to be changed.

It’s not a wholly original series, and throughout watching, I remained very unmoved by the plot and characters, since I’ve seen it done before and better in other series.

As an anime based on a game, it’s pretty easy to see each route play itself in the anime.  Episodes are mostly focused on specific locations within Lost, our hero Takuya taking center stage even though there’s really nothing linking him there except for the fact he was hired and is now determined to finish the job.  All of these are stops along the road of bringing Yuki to Lost, and accomplishing the side-objective of uncovering exactly what the Lost is and who is responsible.

To be honest, it wasn’t a bad series.  It wasn’t original, but it wasn’t bad in the least.  I actually found the parallel storyline of Lacuna Pharmaceuticals incredibly engaging and actually much more interesting than the main storyline of Takuya and Yuki.

If psychological thrillers are your thing, give this a try.  It’s interesting at the very lease.  If you’re a fan of Darker Than Black or Steins;Gate and have been looking for something similar but are capable of suspending harsh judgement and comparison, then give Afterlost a try.

#Afterlost #Shometsu Toshi #Shoumetsu Toshi #Review

[mobpsycho100]

#gif #shoumetsu toshi

[tabesugi]

#anime food #2019 #onigiri #after lost #shoumetsu toshi