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heaven-s-black-box · 2 months

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Cats & Dogs- #2 & Kanitama

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Recovery date: March 9th, 2024

Description: Number two gets forgotten, again.

Notes: I've been wanting to write this forever, it's inspired by that one episode of pokemon (I think Indigo League) where they have to find their trainers.

Word count: 675

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Number two looked right, then left, then right again. Then he looked back at the empty sidewalk behind him, and back at the road… He huffed a sigh before dropping his butt down beside the bus stop sign. Forgotten again. Honestly, it was absurd how often even Number one seemed to forget him. Granted he was almost ten times smaller than Tetsuya Kuroko, but size be damned Tetsuya would not stand for continuously being forgotten by the Seirin team.

He vowed that this time he would not be bought back so easily! No amount of apologetic cooing from Riko or treats and pets from everyone else would win him back! No amount of-

Tetsuya’s head jerked forward harshly as something hit his head. With a low yip, he whipped his head around to find a chubby white and gray cat with its paw raised. Slowly, cautiously eyeing the cat’s raised paw, Tetsuya raised himself to his feet and turned around.

The cat seemed to be sizing him up, deciding if a fight would be worth it or not. Tetsuya figured he could take this pest, he’d take down bigger prey– Kagami, who seemed to have run away with his tail between his legs, Tetsuya would have to apologize when he came back– he could certainly take on this chubby little thing who attacked him while his guard was down. He jerked as the cat slowly lowered its paw, backing down from the altercation.

The cat gave him a slow nod, and Tetsuya settled back into a seated position.

What a weird animal.

“Lap dog.”

Tetsuya was ripped from his contemplation by the cat’s scoff as it took another swing, this time at his jersey.

Before its paw was pulled away, Tetsuya snapped at it and earned himself a hiss as the cat jumped backwards. Tetsuya stood back up, this time much more defensive as he bared his teeth at the stupid cat.

He wanted to be invisible again please and thank you.

“At least I don't go around picking fights with others.”

The cat rolled its eyes as the entered another silent standoff. This time, Tetsuya didn’t relax when the cat put its paw down again.

A loud screeching noise filled the street, and Tetsuya turned to watch a bus pull up across the street. His tail began to wag wildly as he anticipated his rescue, but his excitement came to an abrupt end as the cat bit his tail.

“What is your problem!” Tetsuya yelped as he turned back around, licking gently at his tail.

“What are you doing here?”

“What?”

The cat tilted its head.

“I’ve never seen you here before, what are you do-”

“Kitty!” A soft gasp cut the cat off.

They both turned to find a young man with glasses and a baseball cap with an S on it. The cat scoffed. Meanwhile the man crouched down, the shopping bag in his hand crinkling as he moved, and slowly moved towards them. Tetsuya began to cautiously approach him, but the cat stayed still.

“Aw, is this your friend?” The man asked, patting Tetsuya as the dog rubbed up against him. “Here, I brought you some tuna.”

The man pulled a can from his bag and opened it, setting it on the ground and sliding it over to the cat. The cat slunk closer, sniffed the tuna, and then stuck his nose up in the air– much to the dismay of the man.

“Wah!”

“Number two!”

“Number two!” “Tetsuya!”

“Tetsu!”

Tetsuya stopped rubbing against the man and looked down the street to find the Seirin basketball team walking their way. The man must have also looked away because the next thing he said was, “Not again.” and Tetsuya turned to find the cat missing. Truely a strange animal.

He didn’t dwell on it any longer as the man scooped him up.

“I’m gonna guess you’re Number two?” He asked before looking back towards Seirin and yelling, “is this your dog?”

Seirin definitely wouldn’t get off the hook so easily this time.

#researcher s's recovery #logs from the rift #ace of the diamond #daiya no ace #daiya no cat #daiya no C #kuroko no basket #kanitama #knb nigou #knb tetsuya 2 #tetsuya 2 #tetsuya number two #knb number two #miyuki kazuya #oneshot #dna oneshot #rating unavailable

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themattress · 4 months

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And now, I just feel compelled to sing the praises of one of Kingdom Hearts' greatest heroes:

SHIRO. MOTHERFUCKING. AMANO!

The more time passes, the more amazed I am by this man. He's had a hero's journey IRL when it comes to his place in the franchise: jumping at the call but being inexperienced and screwing up, reaching his lowest point before rising, dealing with great adversity only to come out of it stronger than ever, and becoming a beloved hero to many who continues to do good.

KH1 was his first manga adaptation, and for the most part it's your by-the-numbers comic book adaptation of a story from a non-comic book medium, not especially good or especially bad. But Amano showed three weaknesses: he mischaracterized the KH-original characters (Sora, Kairi, Riku and Ansem all start out on point, but once Destiny Islands is destroyed this changes drastically: Sora turns into a spastic moron, Kairi into a bland bystander, Riku into an emotionless tool, and Ansem into an over-the-top eeeevil lunatic who actually gets himself killed without any contribution from Sora, Donald and Goofy!), he sucked at action scenes leading to many iconic battles from the game being straight-up left out altogether, and his gag manga inclinations caused him to turn scenes that should be serious / emotional into jokes.

CoM was his aforementioned lowest point. All those flaws were not only still there, but worse, turning what was once a dark, mysterious and psychological story into an unfunny farce.

Disgraceful. For a good while, I actually disliked Shiro Amano due to this.

But then came the redemption: KH2. The Prologue section of this manga is masterfully done, possibly even better than the game's version. The pace is less sluggish, the events less irritatingly obtuse, and the humor actually works to the benefit of the story's seriousness - because so much of the goofy humor is between Roxas, Hayner, Pence and Olette, you build even more of an emotional connection to them and the tragedy of Roxas learning the truth about his life hits that much harder when it transpires. When Sora returns, Amano is briefly tempted by his old inclinations and kind of backslides, with the resulting trips to Hollow Bastion, Beast's Castle, Land of Dragons and Olympus Coliseum suffering as a result. They aren't quite as insulting as the CoM manga, but still bad. However, true to hero's journey form this period of temptation and backsliding passes and only reinforces Amano's commitment to improving and actually balancing his humor and adaptational changes with drama, emotional sincerity and faithfulness to the game. From Disney Castle on, he returns to quality output. There are still mistakes here and there, but on the whole the manga is an enjoyable one. From the characterization to the action scenes to the tonal balance, Amano had improved.

And then came the hiatus between its first half and second half, during which he worked on the 358/2 Days manga. Take what I said about KH2's Prologue, then apply it x10, and you get this manga, where the writing and pacing is improved from its game counterpart and the humor is rich, well-timed and actively feeds into the drama and tragedy of the story rather than detract from it. To make the contrast to how far he's come most apparent, remember how in the CoM manga where there's an omake short that makes a complete joke out of the Riku Replica, originally one of the story's most tragic characters? Well in this manga, we get an omake short about a Dusk, which starts out hilarious but then ends up being absolutely heart-breaking. It makes me legit sad over a goddman DUSK. Now that takes real talent!

What's also apparent with the Days and KH2 mangas is that Amano had come to shine in a way that Tetsuya Nomura absolutely does not: respect for his female leads. Kairi, Namine and Xion in these mangas aren't primarily sources of support for male characters or there to make male characters feel things above all else; they are their own distinct individuals with vivid personalities and clear character arcs. Even Olette shines brighter than in the games!

Once Amano made it back to the KH2 manga for its second half, he was firing on all cylinders. Again, not everything was perfect, but much like the game itself the narrative flaws were not enough to overshadow the many more narrative strengths. And when the manga finally concluded after so many years, Amano confirmed that it truly was the end. He would not be adapting other KH games. And given that the rest of the KH series never got better than where KH2 ended, this was absolutely for the best. I could very easily imagine the Olympian gods making a constellation in Amano's image, as he had become a true hero.

However, oh no! He got persuaded into adapting KH3 when it came out in 2019! This is going to ruin everything, right? WRONG! The KH3 manga has not only been a shining example of how far Shiro Amano has come, but also a masterclass in demonstrating how acutely aware of the game's problems he is and the lengths he is willing to go to fix them. For example...

- He opens the manga with a direct adaptation of the game's opening scene with the Boy in Black and Boy in White in front of the chess board followed by the FMV intro. By doing things in this strange way, Amano invites the possibility of this being an alternate, diverging timeline from the prior manga continuity so that its ending remains untouched should you desire it to be. Almost as if the Boy in Black and Boy in White reside in some higher plane of existence and the KH3 manga is the "game" that they're playing, so it's not to be taken too seriously.

- The whole opening that semi-recaps stuff leading into KH3 is played off as a joke, and given that the stuff in question was stupid (such as the Mark of Mastery exam through sleeping worlds and Sora failing his Mark of Mastery exam on bullshit grounds), this is appreciated.

- He actually makes Maleficent and Pete more competent; rather than have Maleficent dismiss Pete's idea to take Sora out while he's still weak, he has both of them agree that they needn't bother with Sora because his weakness will lead him to being destroyed by the Xehanorganization anyway. They can find the black box while their foes fight each other.

- 0.2 BBS is adapted after the Olympus visit in a way that also recaps the most important points of BBS and includes stronger characterization for Aqua, Terra and Ventus. Stupid things like Mickey losing his shirt are avoided, and there is actually clarification on how Mickey could not have gone into the Realm of Darkness to save Aqua earlier and all the time between KH1 and KH2 he was building up his strength to obtain the Power of Waking so that he could as he promised to, making him come off so much better than he did in the games.

-Coded is not referenced, ever.

- The "Roxas and Namine ceased to exist when they merged with Sora and Kairi" retcon is completely avoided, with the manga instead saying they do exist within them as was originally the case in KH2. Giving Roxas his own body is less correcting some injustice or "hurt" and more part because he's needed for the battle against Xehanort and part because Sora's just a nice guy like that, wanting to provide his friends with all the basic comforts.

- Xehanort's master plan retcon is also discarded! Here it's said that Ansem and Xemnas' plans remained their own, as they should be, and that since Master Xehanort's return he's embarked on "a new plan" once joined by his time-traveling younger self, who never mentions needing Ansem for his time-traveling which keeps things consistent with how KH2 depicted time travel as simply a magical phenomenon that didn't need complicated rules.

- Not only are Riku and Kairi way more in-character than they were in the game, but most shockingly Axel is too! He actually feels like Axel, character flaws and all, not dumbass Lea!

- Toy Box, Corona and Arendelle, while still filler, are all adapted faithfully, which is nice.

- Various alterations are made for the better: the Riku Replica stuff is kept to an incredibly bare minimum, Ansem the Wise first appears in the scene where he returns to Radiant Garden meaning him still being alive is more of a legit twist plus he never meets Aqua only for there to be no pay-off and the dumbass plotline with him and Xehanort's Heartless is left out, the "secret Keyblade legacy" stuff with Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia and Larxene is cut, the second Kairi and Axel scene is no more, and the big reconvening at Yen Sid's Tower scene and the fallout montage is massively reworked into something far better written and paced.

All this plus maintaining his balance of humor and sincerity, including using the former to support the latter, and even correcting previous flaws (holy shit, Marluxia, Larxene, Vexen...they're all completely in-character now!) If Amano keeps this momentum going and actually manages to make something good out of the notoriously disappointing finale in the Keyblade Graveyard, then he will officially have given us the best version of KH3's story in existence.

Tl;dr: nothing but respect for Shiro Amano, who is a better writer than Nomura will ever be.

#Disney #Square Enix #Kingdom Hearts #Shiro Amano #Opinion #Analysis #Truthbomb #Anti-Nomura #Anti-Tetsuya Nomura #This has been a PSA

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thisgardenofromance · 1 year

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I connected the entirety of OHSHC (anime dub) to the calendar :)

This took me too long <3

Alrighty! So what I'm gonna do first is show the calendar charts for when/if people come back to look at them and already understand what the mean, then I'm gonna specify what I mean by each day exactly by telling you the first scene of each day with time-codes under the cut (skipping the full day episodes because... duh), and then I'm gonna explain why (with sources)... It'll make sense if you read the whole post I promise.

So. On the calendar, the days will be listed as episode number and day number (E#:D#). These will be color-coded. Pink means that day definitely is that specific calendar date based on the information I have. Purple means we have some wiggle room. Green are national holidays (found on questionjapan.com and nippon.com).

E1:D1 - Haruhi looks into the fourth library and complains (1:20)

E1:D2 - Haruhi finds out her bag has been thrown in the fountain (17:05)

E2:D1 - Haruhi realizes she's late for the club (1:20)

E2:D2 - Kazugazaki teaches Haruhi to dance (8:30)

E2:D3 - Tamaki begins the Host party (12:20)

E3:D1 - The hosts hold a cherry blossom reception (1:20)

E3:D2 - Tamaki daydreams about a "feminized" Haruhi (7:10)

E3:D3 - First year students head down to their physical exams (11:10)

E4:D1 - The host club holds its "teary men" session (3:05)

E4:D2 - Tamaki discusses the merits of a lady manager (9:50)

E4:D3 - The hosts film the basketball scene of their movie (13:30)

E4:D4 - The girls fawn over the film to the host club (20:30)

E5:D1 - The twins play the "which one is Hikaru" game (2:10)

E5:D2 - The twins greet Haruhi in class (11:45)

E5:D3 - The twins play the "which one is Hikaru" game with switched hair colors (20:45)

E6:D1 - Shiro tells his music club teacher that he's quitting (1:20)

E6:D2 - Shiro watches Tamaki host veerrry closely (3:35)

E6:D3 - Honey and Haruhi sneak into the elementary school in disguise (11:55)

E6:D4 - Hina finds Shiro's piano recital (19:20)

E6:D5 - Shiro hosts in the club (21:10)

E8:D1 - The twins say the host club is going to the beach (1:20)

E8:D2 - The twins ask why they went to Okinawa (2:50)

E8:D3 - The hosts leave Okinawa (21:30)

E9:D1 - The Zuka club twirl their way into the gates for some reason (1:20)

E9:D2 - The Zuka club preform on stage (16:50)

E11:D1 - Kirimi walks through Ouran Academy's grounds in search of her brother (1:20)

E11:D2 - Nekozawa gives his oddly nonplatonic speech to Kuma-chan (12:00)

E11:D3 - The host club muse over Nekozawa's success/failure (20:45)

E12:D1 - The hosts spill tea on Usa-chan (1:20)

E12:D2 - Girls fawn over how cute Honey is despite his anguish (9:45)

E12:D3 - Honey paces the clubroom while everyone else watches warily (15:30)

E12:D4 - Renge explains a happy ending (20:00)

E14:D1 - The newspaper club discusses their dropping numbers (1:20)

E14:D2 - The newspaper club finds the host club playing games (13:30)

E15:D1 - Tamaki's phone call wakes the twins up (1:20)

E15:D2 - Kaoru wakes up on the floor (19:00)

E16:D1 - Haruhi and Arai recognize each other (1:20)

E16:D2 - Haruhi and Hikaru meet up for their date (10:00)

E16:D3 - Hikaru accepts Arai's watermelon (21:15)

E21:D1 - Kaoru thinks about his pumpkin carriage metaphor while tapping him pumpkin pencil against his mouth as one does (1:20)

E21:D2 - The twins tell the class rep the story of the clock tower witch (11:55)

E21:D3 - Haruhi and the twins look at the newspaper article about class 1A (20:40)

E22:D1 - Kasanoda's men wish him good morning (1:20)

E22:D2 - Tetsuya wonders if Kasanoda brought his umbrella with him to school (11:50)

E23:D1 - Kasanoda walks in on Haruhi changing (1:20)

E23:D2 - Kasanoda walks in during club hours and requests Haruhi (7:25)

Oh boy we made it to how you can fact check me!!! This is gonna be an entire brain-dump because I am dead

E1 - Aired 4/4/2006 (info found on imdb). Japanese school generally starts on Monday the second week of April (info found in an article from questionjapan.com), which was 4/3/2006, and various comments seem like it's early but not the first day, so we're setting the first day as the first airing to have a starting point!

E2 - It's still "early spring", the cherry blossoms are only buds, there's a slight sense of normalcy, the club has definitely been open for at least a week thanks to Kanako's shenanigans, and the party takes place in "one week", so the first day would have to be late in the week, likely the week of 4/10. Thanks to the fact that Haruhi's practice session with Kanako is directly the next day, the first one would have had to be Thursday, and the second would be Friday. The party could conceivably be the next Friday or Saturday, but I would really really hope it's Friday because Suzushima waits for Haruhi in his school uniform. Also Suzushima is going to England "next month" (May) which could technically be literally any day in the month...

E3 - So the cherry blossoms were blooming on the night of the party last episode, and they're still blooming for the flower-viewing reception. According to this article on japan-guide.com, after the cherry blossoms start legitimately blooming, you've got about a week. We're gonna assume the earlier the better considering the state they're in! On the day of the flower-viewing reception, physical exams are "the day after tomorrow". When they are back in the music room, Haruhi says "sorry I'm late guys" which means she wasn't with them, ergo it's a new day.

E4 - Renge arrives on the first day, crashes the club, and pronounces herself lady manager. She's transferring into class 1A "tomorrow" (which means two week days back-to-back), and then later she arrives to the club with cookies in her school uniform, so I assume that's the day she officially transferred. Renge has a crew flown in from LA to film the host club movie, which she doesn't have the idea for until she starts working on the hosts' characters. I used travelmath.com to calculate the flight time between Tokyo (as a major city in Japan) and LA, which came out to about a 12-hour flight, so we need a buffer day at least. The movie seems to be filmed on club time, so that's a week day, and then "several days later" the episode concludes, which could literally be anywhere between 4 and 9 days in colloquial terms.

E5 - I think it's pretty safe to say this takes place over three consecutive days just on how the episode is presented (one day fight and make-up). This definitely has to happen after the conclusion of the last episode thanks to Renge.

E6 - Ok ok ok ok ok so: most of the shenanigans have to take place over three days. Shiro greets the club on a costumed club day, he observes them on a non-costumed club day, and he goes back to the club... which could conceivably be on the same day as the observation, except that the club appears to have just opened and the teacher gave the kids a new piece for the day. On that third day, Hina is supposed to move to Germany at the end of the week, so the recital is probably that Friday to give Shiro more time to practice. And now... the incident. There was a date on that invitation that we as the audience get to read. I got so excited!! A concrete date I could place this one on!! Except it's September 3rd fucking September 3rd why does is say September 3rd fuck you bones what the fuck is this shit

Anyway Shiro hosts "10 days later". Interestingly, not for the first time thanks to the comment "I thought [Tamaki] would make it through without exploding this time".

E7 - School day. Post the conclusion of the last episode because Honey "felt threatened last episode" and before the next because that one hinges on the conclusion of this one, but otherwise there's absolutely nothing tying this one down.

E8 - Sometime after episode 7 they decide to go to the beach, then presumably the next weekend they spend one night in Okinawa. Since this ends up falling on the week of the twins' birthdays, I absolutely refuse to believe any of these days happen on June 9th because... come on. Do you think the twins would ever keep their mouths shut about their birthday???

E9 - This starts no later than Thursday due to the fact that the cultural expo lasts two days back-to-back (explicitly labeled). Of course, this is assuming Ouran has a five-day week, as many things on the calendar do, thanks to that same article from questionjapan.com I mentioned earlier.

E10 - It takes place over one day on a Sunday, thanks to Haruhi rejoicing that "there's no better time to hit the supermarket than a Sunday morning"

E11 - Kirimi shows up, the practice in the science room happens two days later because Haruhi says "she's made me read about fifty volumes of shojo manga over the last three days" (Kirimi's arrival, the day before, the day she says that). "Several days later" the hosts see Nekozawa hiding again.

E12 - Genuinely what the fuck why is Honey's toothache only three days long they definitely take longer than that sir??? Anyway it's explicitly in the title so three days it is! The bunny incident definitely happens the same day as the discovery of Honey's toothache (referenced as "earlier").

E13 - I don't know man the actual awake day happens for like a minute and a half. Week day??? If the entire episode was just a nebulous dream I probably wouldn't have even counted it on the timeline lol.

E14 - First of all, the newspaper club's story on the host club is supposed to be the very last story of the semester, so it's gotta be real close to the start of summer vacation. The first day is near the end of the week ("how many copies did we sell this week"), and the second day is the very next one ("tomorrow").

E15 - Explicitly stated by the twins, it starts three days into summer vacation, or 7/23/2006!! Japan's summer vacation starts on the 20th (found traveltips.usatoday.com and that same questionjapan.com article). Obviously, when Kaoru wakes up on the floor would be the very next day, or 7/24/2006.

E16 - Starts on the same day as the last episode (7/24/2006), Haruhi's date is "tomorrow" (7/25/2006), and the conclusion would be "the next day".

E17 - TAMAKI'S EXPO FLYER SAYS 8/27-8/31!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THIS IS THE KIND OF SHIT I WANTED FROM HINA'S STUPID INVATATION THANK YOU ANIMATORS FOR THIS CRUMB OF EASE. It's also the last day of summer vacation which would be the week of the 31st!! I can't guarantee which day of the week it would be though, because I would assume school starts up again on Monday, but I could be wrong? It doesn't make any fuckin sense to start school again on a Friday that year but hey man I don't make the rules.

E18 - Who even fuckin knows man. One school day, but there's literally weeks of unused space in the time slot this could fit so like close your eyes and pick a date :')

E19 - Singular day on the weekend. If I had to guess, it would be Sunday (just because Haruhi was planning to go to the supermarket), but no promises. Probably September.

E20 - I didn't include it on the calendar because it literally does not matter. The entire episode is a flashback, there's not a singular moment that takes place at the time of the rest of the anime <3

E21 - Starts the week before Halloween (10/23/2006). Final exams (2-3 days according to this Q&A that I picked and chose from) are almost happening, because clubs generally aren't in session during exam days. Haruhi and the twins skip on the club to help 1A plan, which means it's the same day. The tournament is explicitly stated to happen on Halloween night. The ending is... sometime soon after that?

E22 - Spread over two days: like Renge in the fourth episode, Kasanoda shows up while a costumed club day is in session, but sticks around after that. They're one after the other ("yesterday").

E23 - This obviously starts on the same day as the end of the last episode. Kasanoda refuses to eat dinner "again", but I can't guarantee that this is connected to Haruhi? I don't know, the language around her is all muddled, dude. It seems like it was originally intended to be on the exact same day as the start of the episode, because when Tetsuya talks about how he saw Kasanoda and Haruhi together, the sub says "today" (the scene wasn't in the manga so I couldn't check that :/ ), but the dub says "all the time". For why. Anyway, it seems like he visits as a guest the very next day but I don't have a direct quote for that one. This episode's timeframe is probably the most mindfucky out of the entire show T - T

Then in the conclusion it seems like it was supposed to be the same day but I can't guarantee it and also the roses are in full bloom in fucking November???? Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Literally just put these episodes before the Halloween one literally just put them in September/early October literally all you had to do was air these episodes before Halloween and not reference the pumpkin carriage metaphor I fucking know you guys could do it you rearranged a whole bunch of other shit from the manga timeline why would you do this to me fuck you fuck you fuck youuuu

Also technically according to this article the roses could be blooming if they were in the very very very south of Japan but also that would have literally meant that the cherry blossoms would have been in full bloom in mid-March <3

E24 - Literally it's cold enough for falling leaves and kotatsu tables the very next episode FUCk you bones anyway it's one school day

E25 - The super super fun thing about this is that I could have placed the cultural festival on the weekend it's SUPPOSED to be on (gainjinpot.com and questionjapan.com) if literally just the Kasanoda episodes had come out before the Halloween episode <3 I am a ball of pure fury. Anyway, it starts the morning of and continues to sunset. We're gonna assume its Friday based on the next episode.

E26 - So this is day two of the cultural festival, or the "main fair". Since the festival is generally a one-day event held on Saturdays and this one is supposed to be the main one, we're gonna put this one on Saturday.

OH MY GOD I FUCKIN DID IT!!!!!!!

#i need to go to bed #ouran high school host club #ohshc #canon resource #research notwithstanding typing all this shit up #literally took multiple hours <3 #why is life so hard #never talk to me again love you #i'm not proofreading this

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appears · 5 months

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20th Anniversary

Namie Amuro: Style (2003.12.10)

There are at least four distinct eras in Namie Amuro's career: 1) her initial debut with the idol-ish super eurobeat/dance group SUPER MONKEY'S (which spawned the group MAX) from 1992 to 1995, 2) her major debut as a solo artist with Avex Trax in 1995, kicked off by the single "Body Feels EXIT," through to the height of her popularity as a leading figure in the J-pop industry alongside producer Tetsuya Komuro until her abrupt hiatus in 1997, 3) the awkward, not-very-well-received comeback and transition to post-TK R&B, which saw the lowest sales numbers of her career, and lasted roughly until the release of Queen of Hip-Pop in 2005, and 4) her meteoric rebound, transition back to dance-pop, and the cementing of her status as a legend, until the abrupt announcement of her retirement in 2017. There are a lot of mini-moments within these eras, and many parts overlap so that it's not exactly seamless, but that's the gist of it.

While Namie's comeback was one of the rarest in music history, the factors that led to the initial nadir are just as interesting and numerous. For one, she had squandered the goodwill of the public by engaging in activity that was frowned upon in Japan at the time: she hooked up with a backup dancer, got pregnant, got married, got tattoos, and got divorced, all within the space of a couple of years. On top of it, Namie's success was tied to that of her producer, the mega-popular and prolific Tetsuya Komuro, who was basically running a personal empire in the 1990s. While Namie's popularity and success was never due solely to the music he was writing for her, it was an enormous contributing factor to her sales numbers. TK's brand of pop was the defining style of the 90s, with no one better able to pry open wallets in what was the CD format's most lucrative era. But just as quickly and completely as he ruled hearts and charts, his music fell out of style, also as a result of several factors (mostly the rise of singer-songwriters and R&B/hip-hop in the mainstream, and personal issues involving everything from tax evasion, to drug rumors and a wild romantic life). Namie teaming up with him again for her immediate comeback never stood a chance against so much drama. So major changes were made when Namie ditched the Komuro baggage, taking the plunge with new support -- Dallas Austin, m-flo, ZEEBRA, even Teddy Riley -- into the world of R&B and hip-hop.

This brave step didn't immediately produce amazing results: if anything, Namie's early forays proved lackluster and indecisive on albums like GENIUS 2000. It wasn't until 2003's STYLE that she finally and fully committed to the change. Gone were the days of chasing the chance and dreaming that she was dreaming, Namie was now putting up her dukes, wishing on the same star, and shining more. The songs on the album were all heavily influenced by contemporary Western trends of the time, especially Black hip-hop, fashion, and culture. The early 00s was still the era of P. Diddy, Jennifer Lopez, Nelly, Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliott, and in some ways, STYLE samples sounds from all of these artists in different ways, with the inclusion of a few softer songs, such as "Four Seasons," "As Good As," and "Come," which were deliberately added for variety. But for the most part, the album is built on beats, bars, and rhymes. This was still a fairly new thing to see in the Japanese mainstream, and certainly by an Avex Trax artist -- for comparison, Ayumi Hamasaki had just released her rock opus I am..., while RAINBOW merely dipped a toe into R&B on a song like "Real me," Ai Otsuka was less than a year out from releasing LOVE PUNCH, Hikaru Utada was actually going softer and more art-pop with Deep River, and both BoA and Kumi Koda had just debuted in Japan with LISTEN TO MY HEART and affection respectively, which stayed squarely on the softer R&B/pop side of the fence. Only Crystal Kay, HEARTSDALES, and maybe DOUBLE were a step ahead of Namie, but I would argue that STYLE and Namie's involvement in projects like SUITE CHIC really let the sound transition into the broader and bigger Oricon mainstream, prompting a rash of copycat records.

Even so, STYLE did poorly. It still hit #1 in its first week, but it stands as Namie's least popular record with the fewest sales numbers to this day. It does, however, have something of a cult following by fans who now look back at the early 00s with nostalgia. Personally, I didn't like this album when I first heard it -- its lack of pop and dance music, which I was used to hearing from Namie, coupled with what seemed like a desperate bid for relevancy in a genre that I wasn't particularly interested in at the time, turned me off from spending much time with it. Nowadays, I dislike this album less -- there are songs on here that I actually really like. My only real caveat is that the album is split too abruptly at the halfway point between the bangers and the non-hip-hop tracks. In hindsight, STYLE is clearly Namie still getting comfortable in this milieu, and it's especially obvious next to albums like Queen of Hip-Pop and PLAY that were more successful at capturing something both influenced by hip-hop and unique to what only Namie could bring.

This CD album comes in a standard jewel case with an OBI and a booklet that features additional photos and lyrics. First press editions featured two exclusive bonus tracks: a remix of "SO CRAZY," and an alternate version of "Wishing on the Same Star." For me, this album is more interesting for what lead to it, what it lead to, and what it said about the state of Namie Amuro and J-pop at the time. It's not great, but it's not nearly as bad as I remember it being. Avex Trax, of course, would politely disagree, largely ignoring it on the career-summarizing compilation album Finally (only "SO CRAZY" represents). After something as tentative and a bit try-hard as this, the world was not ready for what was coming down the pipe with Queen of Hip-Pop, making that era all the more wild and magical.

Catalog Number: AVCD-17372

#namie amuro #j-pop #japanese pop #anniversaries #avex trax

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evelhak · 10 months

Note

If you're still doing the character ask game, I need to hear Tetsuya, all numbers please 👀🩵

Oh, wow. You most certainly shall have it. (Prepare to be here for a while.)

1. My first impression of them

Probably something like "cool, my favourite colour". I definitely had zero deep thoughts about him (or anyone) in the beginning, since I process feelings pretty slowly.

2. When I think I truly started to like them

Probably towards the end of season 2. (But hey, still on first watch.) Not because there was any particular moment that caused it, must have just had enough processing time around then, and enough information for points of connection.

3. A song that reminds me of them

Ahem. I'll attempt to narrow it down.

You're lucky the post limit is ten.

4. How many people I ship them with

One, really. Just Kagami. But that doesn't mean nothing besides that happens in my fics. Relationships are messy, so it's not like I'm preventing Kuroko from having any attraction towards other people, or anyone else to him.

5. My favourite ship of them

KagaKuro it is. I live for relationships that are based on trust, commitment and insane merging with another in an activity that both love. I don't need ships that feel surprising or outside the box, I need ships that feel real. I also don't need angst and toxicity. Of course there will always be problems in any relationship, but I want the general tone to be that of growth and positivity. A particular aspect that really made me fall in love with their love was the growth from dependent on each other to working on themselves as individuals to be stronger together, which leads to not needing to be together but still deciding to do so because they want to, which is beautiful. That's an aspect I love to explore further in my writing.

6. My least favourite ship of them.

I feel like I've answered this before, but it's Momoi. It literally makes my skin crawl to see stuff about them, (especially stuff that treats them as a natural progression of the story as if that's totally reasonable) and that's a strangely strong reaction from me, but it has to do with how Momoi's "crush" is depicted. I think there's something that really underestimates both characters in it, turning them into a joke that isn't funny at all. It's old news that women violating physical boundaries is seen as harmless and funny or even cute (truly despicable) but it really needs to stop. I also hate that Momoi's feelings are depicted in an incredibly shallow way that dumbs her down. I'm supposed to believe that a character as smart and confident as her will fall head over heels for someone she thought nothing of before, for the first random act of kindness? Yes, there absolutely are people who are so deprived of love and attention that they will do that, and it's not their fault, but I think it's dishonest to depict Momoi as someone who will confuse love and/or attraction with gratitude that hard. Sure, it doesn't take a genius to see that she sometimes feels left out because she's a girl, but that is incongruent as a reason for this too, because she's obviously looking for deeper friendship when she looks at everyone else longingly, so to think that she instantly fell in love as an answer to that doesn't make any sense. The only answer to this behaviour is self-deception, in a complexity that does justice to her character.

This is getting long, and I didn't even touch on Kuroko's side of things but really, you can read all about it in my fic, if you're interested.

7. A quote from them that you remember

I think I've answered this rather seriously before, so let's pick a funnier one. (at least a little.) I don't remember the exact wording, but it's the quote about there always being a slight chance that a meteorite will strike at the last seconds of the game. It's funny to me because I've said literally the same thing prior to seeing KnB, and I think it demonstrates in such a funny way both the strength and weakness of a brain that tends to ignore physical reality in favour of fantasy. The strength is obviously that you can find what you need for your desired outcome in almost anything, you can always imagine a way your fantasy will become reality, and so never lose hope, but the weakness is pretty obviously that not being so grounded in physical reality makes you rather clumsy and inconsistent with concrete physical tasks. Possibly it's not so funny to someone else, but it's funny to me as someone who has always been 1000% willpower, meanwhile struggling to develop physical abilities to even passably match that willpower. BUT when you do get there, magic happens. I would say it's desirable to have your head in the clouds and feet on the ground.

8. Your favourite outfit of them

I do like striped t-shirts.

9. Your least favourite outfit of them

Orange t-shirt. Wtf are you doing Kuroko, you have blue hair! Do you want to look dead?

10. Describe the character in one sentence

An impossibly relatable myriad of contradictions.

11. What's the first thing you think about when thinking about the character

Probably either the fandom here on Tumblr, or my own fics. Because those are the things that are in my daily life.

12. Sexuality hc!

Asexual and gray-romantic. That's how I just always read Kuroko in the anime and manga. I know a lot of people tend to automatically headcanon characters who display no opposite sex attraction as being gay, which is valid, but I am asexual myself so of course I'm more likely to start to wonder if someone is ace when they display neither opposite nor same sex attraction in a way that is clearly sexual. I see no evidence of it in canon, even Kagami seems to have some inclination towards being interested in sexual things compared to Kuroko. So Kuroko might just as well be ace. Which is HILARIOUS because it's called the invisible orientation sometimes. That's why I'll never let go of this headcanon. Literally who would be better asexual representation? Asexuality can even be one factor why Kuroko has so little presence. Apparently, people exchange sexual energy all the time, and if you don't emit, receive or respond to it, people may not even notice you. (It's a hypothesis but based on my experience there might be something to it.) Obviously that would be just one reason in something that is more complex, but that's just what makes it interesting to me, when multiple factors come together. Anyway, I do see latent romantic attraction there, but I don't think it's ever strong enough for Kuroko to act upon until Kagami of course. I don't think he's necessarily even aware of it. I do think that attraction is leaning towards men, though. However, he's very very particular. Only Kagami is able to break the threshold, haha. Also, thinking Kuroko is asexual doesn't necessarily mean I think he's sex-averse (since someone people still don't understand the difference.)

13. Your favourite friendship they have

I just talked about the negative aspects of their relationship, so it might not be obvious, unless you've seen a post where I talk about this, but it's with Momoi, and it's precisely because I think their friendship and actual points of connection were largely ignored in canon. They both feel slightly like outsiders, they both have made observing people in different ways their forte, which I think means they both have a natural interest for it, they are the most naturally socially inclined in their Teiko team (besides Akashi, but he's in a different way from them). They even have this pastel colour coding thing going on. And I think it's super tone-deaf to not have any explicit comparison between Kuroko's and Momoi's experiences of being ignored because she is definitely ignored too, yes in a different way, but the more important difference is that people don't even notice she is, and the fandom does it too. (Newsflash, the reason is misogyny.) There should definitely be similar comparison between Kuroko and Momoi as there is between Kuroko and Takao. As if being a "supporting character" is profound when a guy does it, but when a girl does it, it's just what she was supposed to do all along anyway, so no one even pays attention. Another point I can't help but see is, that if Kuroko was a girl, Momoi would definitely be that extrovert friend who adopts the introvert friend, and they would be besties like none you'd ever seen. Momoi would still bury Kuroko in hugs, but in a way more genuine way in which that over-enthusiasm wouldn't be out of place or shallow. But all of that deep friendship potential is ignored. In short, there is a shit ton to explore in their relationship, and I'm doing just that.

14. Best storyline they had

I don't know if I can answer anything else than the whole thing? I just love the whole premise and how it plays out. I love that the story is committed to the perspective of someone with significant limitations in power: Kuroko doesn't magically "win the lottery" and actually become the most powerful being, like protagonists usually do, in series like Naruto and Boku no Hero Academia. Kuroko's story is a lot like "the heroine's journey" and actually commits to the unattractive parts of it, meanwhile so many other stories just use the sexy parts of the heroine's journey to spice up the hero's journey and create emotion porn. That's why Kuroko is actually relatable to people who know that the ultimate power fantasy is out of their reach: he finds an alternative way to be strong, he actually has to be smart to overcome his limitations in power. I know some people love escaping to power fantasies, but I really appreciate these grounded aspects in this otherwise fantastical story. Even though the way to Seirin's win is paved with unexplained power of friendship moves that make no practical sense, the result doesn't feel like lazy storytelling because of this commitment.

15. Worst storyline they had

Hmm, there's no bad storyline in my opinion, so I'm just going to have to continue with how much more there would still be to get out of the overarching story with some added female perspective. So many of Kuroko's struggles are totally average struggles of women. Having less raw strength than the average person you'll be facing? Being ignored on a daily basis? Going out of your way to be the emotional glue because no one else will do it? Not being taken seriously? Your boundaries being constantly violated? Obviously, I'm not saying this doesn't happen to men. I'm saying this happens particularly to men who are thought of as feminine. So I think it's really sad that stories like this ignore how many struggles people who are perceived to be feminine, share. It's sad that misogyny prevents stories like these from getting out of the male centric narrative and keep isolating the male and female characters from each other even though they share so many experiences. So, the worst storyline is the lack of acknowledgement that it should have also always been a female storyline in addition to everything great it already does.

16. A childhood headcanon

Kuroko loved to pretend play that ghosts and spirits like poltergeist exist, and they are misunderstood and someone just needs to find the right words to talk to them, so he went looking for them in dark and mysterious places like a forest or an attic if he was near one.

17. What do you think their first word was?

"Granny" because she was always home more than Kuroko's parents.

18. How do you think they were as a kid?

I think Kuroko was significantly more shy, quiet and socially awkward, but also more animated and emotive. He had to grow a thicker skin and hide major parts of himself to survive in a harsh social world.

19. The most random ship you've seen people have with them?

Who haven't I seen? Kuroko no harem indeed. Probably like... Imayoshi or Kasamatsu? Which is like... why? Where is the chemistry? The foundation? The thematic significance? At least I understand why some people think it's hot to ship Kuroko with Hanamiya or the Jabberwock, like, I theoretically understand that some people find antagonists who demean someone and beat them up to be smashing boyfriend material, or if not that, at least some basic porn, but I don't think I will ever understand the people who seem like they are looking for ships with pretty much nothing in it. I guess they want to create everything themselves, maybe?

20. A weird headcanon

Kuroko wrote some angsty poetry in middle school and ended up burying it underground because he was embarrassed by it. I have no clue where this came from? I don't know if it's that weird, but it's the most baseless thing I've ever written in my fic. (I make sure my wilder shit is canon based even if it's an unlikely interpretation.)

21. When do you think they were at their happiest?

Besides Seirin's win and reuniting with the GOM, I think in early childhood when it was mostly just Kuroko and Granny who was really loving and showed him the magical world of stories, painting him a picture that he could do anything and be anything he wanted, and he didn't really know the real world wasn't as kind, yet.

22. When do you think they were at their lowest?

Besides end of middle school, at the spring of third year in high school. (Oops, spoilers for TOT!)

23. Future headcanon

Oh dear. Oh dear indeed. Do I have plans. Some that I feel like I'll be hanged for.

Oh well, let's just say that Kuroko and Kagami will definitely get married, since that's both obvious and safe.

24. What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

Argh, it's so hard for me to answer these because all secrets I think Kuroko has are, again, spoilers for my fic. A lot of them are still secrets to Kuroko as well, for quite some time.

Well, I don't think he told anyone he's asexual, out of self-preservation. (Untill he does.)

25. When do you think they acted the most ooc

Hmm, I don't have anything big, but it always felt a little strange to me that Kuroko decided to comfort Momoi by touching her head, as opposed to a shoulder or something, because Kuroko evidently doesn't like people touching his head. It seemed strange that he wouldn't consider it might be annoying to someone else too. Of course, I can come up with multiple explanations for this. There's no reason why he wouldn't know that it's in fact something that Momoi likes. Or he could have been trying to come up with the most platonic way to comfort someone he could think of, and it turned out strange. I'm sure there could be other explanations, too.

26. When do you think they were being "themselves" the most?

I think increasingly towards the end of the series, because he would gradually open up and relax more around people.

27. If they could meet a character from another show/movie/etc, who would be the most fun for them to meet?

I kind of dislike crossovers like this but... well, if I must choose, I guess it would be quite interesting if Kuroko could meet one of my own characters. Maybe the other protagonist from my debut novel, who is a literally invisible creature who would totally make Kuroko think that he was right in the childhood headcanon mentioned above.

28. The most unnecessary thing they ever did?

Hmm, I think Kuroko went a bit far about teasing Kagami with Nigou sometimes. I know it's hard to get if you don't have an irrational phobia, but it's not really a funny experience. It could be retraumatizing.

29. How do you think they would be as a parent?

The major spoiler questions just keep coming, geez. Obviously Kuroko will be a gentle and loving parent. It's just that I want to blurt all my fic plans out now. But I can't. All I can promise is that it's going to get... interesting. I have a habit of synthesizing canon and fanon in ways that make seemingly contradictory aspects blend together. Let's just say that I'll make liberal use of some loved and hated fan fic traditions in the topic of parenthood. I promise it's going to be a bit out there. Actually about as out there as basketball is in canon. Theoretically real. Which is kind of my point. (Presicely my point.)

30. The funniest scene they had?

Honestly, it's when Kuroko is looking at Kagami, mouth open and seeing him shining literal light, pfft. There's no way to watch that shit with a straight face, and no pun intended.

Thank you for asking me, I hope you had fun reading this, you deserve so much fun after working for entrance exams! I'm so happy about your success. ❤️ If you liked this answer, I'll always be down to do it for another character or just talk about things privately too. ✨

#knb #kuroko #kinda sorta TOTverse spoilers #mild ones

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y2klostandfound · 10 months

Photo

Rez on Dengeki Playstation Vol.182 (Videogame Magazine) (27/07/2001)

Scanned by kitsunebi (Retromags)

Translation in English:

(Page 164)

PS2 STG

Autumn Forecast:

SEGA/UGA underpriced MC2 (KB number not yet added)

A new dimension game experience created by sound and light!

Sega's first PS2 title has finally been revealed. We take a closer look at the contents, along with an in-depth interview with producer Tetsuya Mizuguchi.

Interview - Tetsuya Mizuguchi

Aiming for a "good-natured game"

At the PS2 software presentation "PlayStation Party" held on June 27, Mr. Mizuguchi, who demonstrated while actually playing "Rez", said, "The pleasure of musicians and DJs may be like this. I thought." That feeling is exactly what Mr. Mizuguchi tried to express in this game. "I went to Switzerland and witnessed a music festival attended by 400,000 young people. When people gathered to listen to house or techno music, they danced crazy. I was amazed. They are also very particular about the lighting, and when they see it moving in sync with the music, what if I could become the player and be able to control the sound and light? I thought it might make you feel better."

Mr. Mizuguchi chose 3D shooting as the game system to experience this feeling. “I wanted something that could be played physiologically without thinking, with simple and clear rules, and something that everyone could play intuitively. I wonder if I was just thinking, "Is it too difficult?" "A long time ago, there was a 3D shooter called "Star Wars" in Atari's game. It was a simple screen composed only of wireframes, but I remember being so absorbed in it that I lost track of time. That kind of feeling. I also want to evoke the feeling of excitement.I think the excitement I felt 20 years ago is still valid today.”

At the start of the project, Mr. Mizuguchi said to the staff, "If there was a shooting game in which the music is composed when you successfully defeat the enemy, and the visual effects construct the world at the same time, it would be great. Don't you think it's good?" and the development of the game seems to have started.

“In conventional shooting games, all you have to do is think about how to make the enemies appear, but this game has a different trick that uses sound and light to create a pleasant feeling. It took an enormous amount of time to complete the program.”

There have been many games in the past that use sound to create a pleasant feeling. But how are they different from the so-called rhythm games of the past?

I think that the traditional rhythm game was "forced". There is a certain point at which you have to play a note at the right time or you will make a mistake. Of course there is such a fun aspect, but in "Rez," there is no "compulsion," so you can play as you like, which is liberating. If you defeat the Enemy with your own timing, various sounds will come out and become music. I think there are quite a lot of people who shy away from playing sound games because they think they don't have a sense of rhythm." I think there are a lot of people who think they don't have a sense of rhythm and shy away from playing music games. However, this is a game that I want those people to try. First of all, I can tell them to try it without worrying about their sense of rhythm. Besides, the game is also fun to play as a shooting game. But when you get good at the game, you will realize that you have a good sense of rhythm. In fact, it was the same for me.

↑ Mr. Mizuguchi playing "Rez" at "PlayStation 2 Party". Mr. Shigeo Maruyama, the chairman of SCE, received a lot of attention.

3D shooter?

Basically, it's a 3D STG where you shoot the enemies that appear with lasers. However, according to the timing of the shot, the music playing in the background is further overlapped with the sound, and bright lights fly around the screen. A major feature of this game is the effective use of music and images.

(Page 165)

Pleasure created by simple operation

Hold down the missile launch button and move the cursor to lock on the enemy. Release the button to fire a laser that hits the enemy. The operation is very simple, so you can fully enjoy the STG-like pleasure of shooting.

Create your own "Rez"!

For example, if multiple enemies are destroyed individually, or if they are destroyed after being rocked together, the way sound and light are created will be different. How to shoot enemies and what kind of music and images to create. It's up to the player's preference.

Trance-like gaming experience

As you progress through the stages, enemies will appear continuously, so the sounds and lights that are generated will be dizzying. You'll feel a "high" that you've never experienced in a game before, with a brain-numbing intensity.

ABOUT TETSUYA MIZUGUCHI

Profile of Tetsuya Mizuguchi . Born in Otaru in 1965. Joined SEGA in 1990. Produced hit titles such as "Sega Rally Championship", "Sega Rally 2" (both arcade), and "Space Channel 5" (Dreamcast).In 2000, when Sega was spun off, he became the representative of United Game Artists.

↓ Mizuguchi's masterpiece

← "Sega Rally 2" (left) and "Space Channel 5" (bottom).

Finally, we asked them how they felt about entering the PS market. I have a very good image of PS users.I think they will thoroughly ignore anything boring, but if we do something interesting, I think they will respond very well to it. So I have high hopes that they will be into "Rez".

*The full text of the interview with Tetsuya Mizuguchi introduced here is available on Dengeki Online (URL http://dengekionline.com). Check it out if you want to know more about the world of "Rez"!

#Rez #sega #tetsuya mizuguchi

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kopw · 4 months

Text

watched too few of noah the new year to pick multiple favorites but number one is kenoh vs manabu soya for sure

tjpw pro'24: 1. shoko nakajima vs hyper misao!!!! 2. rina yamashita vs maki itoh 3. raku, ram kaichow & pom harajuku vs himawari, haru kazeshiro & runa okubo

njwk18: 1. kazuchika okada vs bryan danielson absolutely no contest 2. kopw 2024 new japan ranbo 3. sanada vs tetsuya naito

might check out some of the ddt matches but... so much. and so much good! but still so much

#wkweek

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satoshi-mochida · 6 months

Text

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising delayed to December 14

Gematsu Source

Publisher Cygames and developer Arc System Works have delayed Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising from its previously planned November 30 release date to December 14. It will be available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam.

Here is a message from creative director Tetsuya Fukuhara on the cause of the delay:

Cause of the Delay

After our first online beta was held in July, the development team pulled out all the stops to rework the game’s mechanics and battle design in time for the initially scheduled release date. Despite our best efforts, however, it has become clear to me that additional time will be needed to put the finishing touches on the game. Upon completing our adjustments to the game’s battle mechanics, we revealed the changes during our Balance and System Adjustments stream on October 20 and the first public playtest at the “Granblue Fantasy: Versus Official Tournament, Vol. 7″ last weekend, where they were met with an overwhelmingly positive reception. However, due to the number of modes that were affected by these changes, we found the overall impact to be much larger than anticipated, and decided that, in order to meet player expectations, we would need two more weeks of polish and debugging to put out a truly high-quality product. We regret announcing this as the second beta is just around the corner, but please rest assured that the beta schedule itself has not changed. Open Beta details: rising-betatest.granbluefantasy.jp

Other Dates Impacted

The broadcast of “Granblue Showcase: Part 2 – Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising,” which was scheduled to premiere in late November, has been postponed to December 2. We will be showing off the latest news for the game before it comes out during this broadcast and holding a tournament with members of the development team. We have plenty of exciting content planned, so I hope you’ll check it out! We have also extended the period during which players can use their serial codes to receive items from the “Granblue Special Item Set: Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising Pack.”

Previous Deadline: March 31, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.

New Deadline: April 30, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.

“Granblue Special Item Set: Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising Pack” details: rising.granbluefantasy.jp To everyone who has been looking forward to Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, I want to sincerely apologize for announcing this delay so close to its original release date and ask that you please bear with us a little longer as we put the finishing touches on the game. We’re working hard to deliver this new entry in the Granblue Fantasy series and to make it the best fighting game it can be. We’re sparing no effort to make it a game worth waiting for, so we hope you’ll look forward to it. See you on December 14.

#Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising #Granblue Fantasy Versus #Granblue Fantasy #Cygames #Arc System Works #Gematsu

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hunterxmilo · 2 years

Note

Hi,.....if you don't mind me asking, can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from Kuroko no Basket? And why do you love them? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series? Sorry if you've answered this question before....Thanks....

No one has ever asked this before so thank you for asking! Since there’s so many characters to choose from from KnB I’ll just stick with the GOM +Kagami and Seirin.

My number 1 goes to Kagami Taiga- At first he’s this tough one minded kinda guy who first seems like the rest of the GOM (minus Kuroko) but over time seeing him change his views of playing as a team and even seeing his more comedic side like having a fear of dogs made me really fall in love with his character. Also being a big idiot adds to his charm 😅 (I could go on but that’s too much writing)

Number 2 is Kuroko Tetsuya (no surprise there)- I sort of relate to Kuroko in a sense with usually staying out of the spotlight yet does his best to help others. His dynamic with Kagami is 10/10 with a great combination of humor and seriousness and seeing their relationship develop naturally though the series just makes me so happy.

Spot 3 is Aomine Daiki- Plain and simple is this guy is a great antagonist. He’s the drive that pushed Kagami to push beyond his limits and eventually reach The Zone. It took a while but when Aomine finally found someone who could beat him it changed his character for the better yet he still kept his silly quirks that I found charming.

Number 4 is Riko Aida- Who doesn’t love a strong-willed female coach? This lady doesn’t take shit from anybody and is in charge of leading Seirin to success making them run ungodly drills and feeding them high protein (defiantly not poisonous) meals! But in all seriousness being female in this profession is hard and I applause her with how serious she takes into training the team and how much she wants them all to succeed.

Lastly number 5 is Hyuga Junpei- I was between him and Murasakibara HOWEVER I can’t look past how great of a Captian this guy is. His character is similar to Riko’s showing he wasn’t going to take shit and guide his team and has a seriousness to him that I appreciated yet still having moments of comedic relief that just made him feel more human as a character. His dynamic with both Riko and Kiyoshi are special in their own way and he’s a nice calm compared to the rest of the beasts in the show.

Top 5 anime moments for me (not including the movie) I’ll make brief cause I’ve already written so much (in no particular order):

-Kagami entering the zone/Aomine getting defeated

-Kuroko being revealed as the gatekeeper and the animation following the team being in The Zone

-Anytime Kuroko uses Nigou or just Nigou himself scaring the hell out of Kagami

-Kagami and Murasakibara acting like kids taunting each other

-the balcony scene (you know the one 😏)

#kagakuro #kurokaga #Kuroko Tetsuya #Kagami taiga #aomine daiki #knb #kuroko no basket #kuroko #KnB question

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wrestlingisfake · 9 months

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G1 Climax Day 2 preview

D Block: Tetsuya Naito vs. Jeff Cobb - Naito is 3-0 against Cobb, which might explain why this match doesn't have any sizzle for me. It's just kind of there, and it feels like it's the main event just because Naito's the biggest star on the card.

Naito is my pick to win the whole tournament; pitting him against SANADA at Wrestle Kingdom for the world title just makes a lot of sense. If I'm right, that means New Japan has to spend the whole tour trying to convince you he's not the obvious favorite. And their favorite way to do that is book a guy into a 0-2 or 0-3 start to put them on the brink of elimination. The fact this match is going on last almost telegraphs that the big story of the show will be Cobb getting a win over Naito.

C Block: Tama Tonga vs. EVIL - I don't expect either of these guys to do better than 4-3 in the block. Actually, Evil could do a lot worse if they book him like his buddy SHO in the Best of the Super Jr. a couple of months ago. Tama's cool and I'd like to see him pushed, but seeing as Tanga Loa is finally back those two should get back in the tag title hunt as soon as the G1 ends. I don't think the outcome of this one is going to make much difference in anything.

D Block: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - Sabre is the NJPW World television champion; Tana is one of the NEVER trios champions. I could see either of these guys winning the block, with Naito barely squeaking by as runner-up.

A few years ago it felt like Sabre had Tana's number, but in singles matches Tana leads the series 6-4, and Sabre hasn't beaten him since 2019. I could see Sabre winning to even the score up a little. Although it would make sense for Tana to get a win to set up a TV title match. Note that this year's block matches have a 20-minute time limit, whereas Sabre's whole deal as TV champ is that nobody can beat him in fifteen. So if Tana does win, I expect it to be about 17 minutes in.

C Block: Eddie Kingston vs. Shingo Takagi - Eddie is the new STRONG champion, having won the belt from KENTA on July 5. I think all of Eddie's New Japan matches have been under the Strong brand, but now he's really in New Japan, y'know? Beating a former IWGP world champion in his G1 debut would be huge, even if Shingo isn't protected as much as some other former world champs. I'd go ahead and do it, but New Japan is more conservative than I am about giving out big statement wins like that.

I was going to say I don't think either guy is going to make it to the knockout stage, but as I look over all of C Block, none of those guys seem like strong candidates. So hell, maybe the idea is to keep the tippy-toppy guys out of the way so Eddie can win the block. It wouldn't be the worst idea in the world. I'll certainly be rooting for that to happen, but I bet I'll be disappointed a lot.

D Block: Alex Coughlin vs. Shane Haste - Coughlin is one of the STRONG tag team champions, alongside his partner Gabe Kidd. I'm sure at some point Coughlin and Kidd will have to contend with Haste and his own partner, Mikey Nicholls. But for now they're just two tag team guys in a singles tournament, so I don't expect much from either of them. I'd put Haste over to remind everybody he exists, but they may want all the new Bullet Club guys to shine in the early going.

C Block: Mikey Nicholls vs. Aaron Henare - I don't think Nicholls will do any better than Haste in this tournament, but chances are he can beat Henare. I really thought last year Henare would make a big impression in the G1, but now I've given up on the poor guy. If he can beat Nicholls, good for him, but I don't expect him to do better than 1-6.

D Block: Hirooki Goto vs. Toru Yano - Goto is a co-holder of the IWGP heavyweight tag team championship. Yano is mainly a comedy bullshit guy in the G1, but occasionally his comedy bullshit leads to a win that shakes up the standings. Interestingly, Yano has not beaten Goto in nine years. Something tells me he's due.

C Block: David Finlay vs. Tomohiro Ishii - Finlay is the NEVER singles champion and Ishii is one of the NEVER trios champions. I'm very confused this is the opening match. Finlay is getting the strangest "new leader of Bullet Club" push I've ever seen. This is a rematch from Finlay beating Ishii in the New Japan Cup, which suggests Ishii might get his win back. If it's me I have Finlay go 5-2 and at least finish second in the block. But I'm not so sure they're as committed to him as I think they should be.

#njpw #g1 climax

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ragecndybars · 11 months

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Persona Dancing Soundtrack Tournament - MAIN BRACKET

(Readable list of match-ups under the cut!)

With the doubles trimmed, the total number of unique songs and remixes from the dancing games comes out to 48. Rather than having to cut 1/3rd of them, we're going to give 1/3 of them free byes to the second round, meaning the first round will consist of 16 matches between the first 32 songs, and the second round will consist of the winners of those matches against the final 16 songs. From there, it will proceed like a normal single-elimination bracket.

The first half of Round One will go up tomorrow, June 16th, and the second half will go up on the 17th or 18th.

Full List of Match-Ups:

Round One:

Heartbeat, Heartbreak - TOWA TEI Remix vs. Shadow World - ATLUS Kozuka Remix

Memories of You - ATLUS Meguro Remix vs. Deep Mentality - Lotus Juice Remix

Backside of the TV - Lotus Juice Remix vs. Battle Hymn of the Soul - Daisuke Asakura Remix

Dance! vs. GROOVY

Brand New Days - Yuyoyuppe Remix vs. Signs of Love - TK Remix

Blooming Villain - ATLUS Konishi Remix vs. Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There - Jazztronik Remix

Burn My Dread - Novoiski Remix vs. SNOWFLAKES - NARASAKI Remix

Will Power - Shacho Remix vs. Your Affection - Daisuke Asakura Remix

Hoshi to Bokura to - tofubeats Remix vs. True Story - ATLUS Kozuka Remix

Rivers in the Desert - mito Remix vs. The Whims of Fate - Yukihiro Fukutomi Remix

When the Moon’s Reaching Out Stars - Hideki Naganuma Remix vs. Voice - ATLUS Tsuchiya Remix

Pursuing My True Self - ATLUS Kozuka Remix vs. The Snow Queen - ATLUS Tsuchiya Remix

Heaven - Norihiko Hibino Remix vs. A Way of Life - ATLUS Kitajoh Remix

When Mother Was There - ATLUS Kitajoh Remix vs. Our Moment

Break Out Of… - ATLUS Kitajoh Remix vs. Tokyo Daylight - ATLUS Kozuka Remix

Heartful Cry - ATLUS Konishi Remix vs. Life Will Change - ATLUS Meguro Remix

Round Two:

Aria of the Soul - t.komine Remix vs. Winner of Round 1, Match 1

Beneath the Mask - KAIEN Remix vs. Winner of Round 1, Match 2

Moonlight Serendipity vs. Winner of Round 1, Match 3

NOW I KNOW - Yuu Miyake Remix vs. Winner of Round 1, Match 4

Last Surprise - ☆Taku Takahashi Remix vs. Winner of Round 1, Match 5

Mass Destruction - Tetsuya Kobayashi Remix vs. Winner of Round 1, Match 6

Best Friends - Banvox Remix vs. Winner of Round 1, Match 7

Light the Fire Up in the Night - sasakure.UK Remix vs. Winner of Round 1, Match 8

Calystegia vs. Winner of Round 1, Match 9

Wiping All Out - ATLUS Kozuka Remix vs. Winner of Round 1, Match 10

Fog - ATLUS Konishi Remix vs. Winner of Round 1, Match 11

Want To Be Close - ATOLS Remix vs. Winner of Round 1, Match 12

Time - ATLUS Kitajoh Remix vs. Winner of Round 1, Match 13

Deep Breath Deep Breath - Yuu Miyake Remix vs. Winner of Round 1, Match 14

Time To Make History - Akira Yamaoka Remix vs. Winner of Round 1, Match 15

One Nightbreak vs. Winner of Round 1, Match 16

#Persona Dancing Soundtrack Tournament #PDST Bracket #Persona 3 #Persona 4 #Persona 5 #P3 #P4 #P5

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themattress · 2 years

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I finished this game. And in the end, its story included:

Time travel and time loops, worlds and people actually existing in a computer simulation, multiple variations of characters including literal clones, characters who are also partly other characters, body-jacking, different layers of reality, memory loss, existential angst, tangled relationships between characters, previously established information going out the window once later information is learned, villains who just won’t die, scientists with good intentions that go too far, a breed of enemy with a variety of forms, convoluted plot turns due to dreams and/or memories, slow afternoon scenes of characters just casually talking and eating food, characters not communicating information to each other when it could solve problems, characters dropping long-winded exposition dumps, characters being easily forgiven for heinous actions, weak romantic writing, the number 13 being important, detailed lore in written unlockable reports, elements that are blatantly derivative of other sources, terms that leaves you scratching your head in confusion, an evil old man that’s behind everything wrong, and a schmaltzy happy ending where everyone lives and every sacrifice made is reversed.

Holy shit, it’s literally all of Tetsuya Nomura’s Kingdom Hearts bullshit! All the stuff I hate!

.........So why did I enjoy this so goddamn much!?

Three reasons, all of which are crucial differences between it and Kingdom Hearts.

1. The most obvious first: it’s just one game. One game with one self-contained narrative. It’s not stretched out across multiple entries ad nauseum with no clear endgame plan in mind; it’s clear going in that while convoluted, this story is a puzzle that you can actually completely piece together. Everything will make some degree of logical sense by the time that you’re finished, and you don’t have to worry about anything being changed or backtracked in any following games. There’s even a menu placing all of the events in their proper order, the setting of each event and characters featured even being clarified, and it’s right next to the menu with the unlockable reports. The confusion does end, leaving you feeling satisfied.

2. The tone of the game is tailor-made for all of this. It’s a hard-edged sci-fi story with purely Japanese content, not something meant to be a fun fantasy adventure crossing Japanese and Western content together in a way that should balance each other out. Seeing so much of what I listed above in a Kingdom Hearts game bothers me because that’s not how the series started and ideally should be, whereas it feels totally natural for this kind of game.

3. Last but not least, the characters. Nomura made all of his characters service his bullshit and flattened them down to just being the things they make happen in the plot or what happens to them in the plot; having an interesting, engaging and fleshed-out personality fell by the wayside. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim never forgets to make you actually care about its characters. Each one is distinct, with their own intricate backstories, unique personality quirks, and preferred way of doing things. You feel like they are human beings who are making the events of the narrative happen, rather than pieces on a board being moved around by the writer to suit his storytelling whims. All of their story modes have a different vibe to them as a result - you’ve got an identity crisis story, a Cute Girls Doing Cute Things shojou romance, a male and a female coming of age tale, a Madoka-themed Protagonist Journey to Villain, a bisexual awakening(!), a detective mystery, a Bourne Identity-style thriller, a Girl and her Alien Robot, a somber tale of personal loss, a Groundhog Day comedy, a haunting psychological tragedy, and a straight-laced scientific information gathering.

Going through all of these characters’ stories, coming to care about them, and then having to see them finally band together and defend the world from within their badass giant mech vehicles....that’s the true heart of this game; it’s where the greatest joy comes from. For all game players who think this sounds like a good time, I highly recommend this. Vanillaware hasn’t put out something this excellent since Odin Sphereand...uh, Odin Sphere’s remaster.

I’ll wrap this post up with the moment the game truly dug its hooks into me:

Just terrifyingly beautiful.

#13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim #Opinion #Analysis #Disney #Square Enix #Kingdom Hearts #Comparison #Anti-Kingdom Hearts #Anti-Square Enix #Anti-Nomura #Anti-Tetsuya Nomura

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klonoadreams · 2 years

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Okay I have 3 questions for your Into the Wild thing because I have hyperfocused and read all of it including the tumblr posts in one night.

1) Can Akari mimic an alpha’s call? Like. Can she change pitch when she mimics the noises? Because imagine there’s someone just out trying to get crunchy salt and they hear her and Miyuki on either side and they’re just like OH FUCK

2) Wh. Where did Akari get her zoroark pelts I need to know

3) The baby riolu that eventually appears- will they have any physical traits from their mother? Markings or extra floof or anything? Will any zorua from them get, idk, spikes when they evolve? I am curious how you do Pokémon hybrids

Also pokemon who have friendship evolutions that exist in the wild I am pretty sure canonically exist bc those can happen when they befriend other Pokémon and I’m very happy about this knowledge and needed to share

ALRIGHT, i've been meaning to answer this ask but couldn't find the energy to do so until now, SO.

She doesn't have the same pitch, but the intensity is there enough that it really doesn't matter if it's not the same pitch as an Alpha. Can still scare the shit out of people though.

Ginkgo Guild. Miyuki can and will rummage through Ginkgo Guild merchandise for Punch Baby Akari, and the Ginkgo Guild effectively lets it happen because it's better than pissing off an Alpha Hisuian Zoroark. The pelts were part of that, since it's always best to make the most out of the things you find in the wild, like say, a dead Hisuian Zoroark, whose pelt would fetch a pretty penny on the market. :V So yeah, no need to worry. The Zoroark was already dead (old age/sickness, something like that). Mama Miyuki just decided to take back what she feels was hers (even if the Zoroark in particular was no one she recognized - she feels that it would be best for Akari to have it).

Pokemon Hybrids do exist, but my headcanon for them is that they are VERY rare. So it's not something that often happens. Like, the chances are pretty rare, that it's pretty much unheard of (especially during this time in Hisui, where everyone is afraid to get too close to them or really do anything out of the norm, like cross breeding) You're less likely to see anything that drastic, beyond maybe some markings or colorations that can be chalked up as an outside influence, in the same way Akari's been getting influenced by being around Tetsuya and Miyuki (her fangs and eventual markings - like with Coco and Zarude). And also just random chance, because Mama Miyuki is deviating from her own coloration as she grows into her Alpha size. (you're more likely to see a hybrid in Also-Ran, with how busy Dante the Grimmsnarl and Bayonetta the Hatterene are, with their massive number of children - goth Hatenna anyone? lmaooo)

Friendship evos do exist in the wild, most definitely, because it's all about that friendship and if not that, I have a headcanon that extreme duress or dure situations can sometimes force an evolution to happen (even in the case where it normally requires a stone, trade, item - whatever, because how else do these fuckers evolve naturally in the wild?????). Still worth noting that, at everyone's current catching level, it would be far easier to go after the pre-evolved state of the friendship evolution, because would you rather dead with a possible Petal Dance and poison spikes from a Roselia? Or spores from a Budew?

(frankly, I'd choose the Budew, and I'd also choose to nab a Riolu over a very angy Lucario that can Aura Sphere me on sight - which is how I caught Tetsuya as a Riolu during my gameplay lmaooo)

(sorry, just wanted to share that, because it's still so funny how I was throwing balls at a Lucario, and then told him to fuck off when he wouldn't stay in the ball before throwing a ball at a nearby Riolu that actually LET me catch him)

#ask #kitgundy #pokemon #pokemon legends arceus #pla #punch baby akari #hisuian zoroark #into the wild (fanfic)

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