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ootahime · 3 years

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analyzing every gojohime moment in the manga p2

part 1 is here :3

this post includes more excruciatingly long paragraphs so grab urself something and enjoy LOL

chapter 40

i know they’re not interacting in this panel but i still want to bring it up. i’m gonna give some context to this scene in case someone needs to jog their memory. so basically, mei’s ability to command crows is what allows the staff to observe the students from afar. however, gojo notices that there’s lack of footage where yuuji is and asks mei why that’s so. she tells him that they’re animals at the end of the day so she can’t control what they look at. he doesn’t believe her so he asks her whose side she’s on (for yuuji’s execution vs against yuuji’s execution) to which she responds with, “whose side? i’m on the side with money, of course. there’s no value in something that can’t be bought since you can’t exchange that for money.” in other words, she’ll always choose the side that offers her more money because she doesn’t care about how morally “correct” or “incorrect” something is. it’s not worth fighting for a cause that doesn’t benefit her in the long run which is why she views things that are unable to be bought (friendships, relationships, favors) as useless - they can’t be exchanged for money. it’s clear that gojo knows she’s not on his side because he replies with, “spoken from experience!” or “i wonder how much!” (translation varies). he says it out loud to perhaps let gakuganji know that he’s onto him. i find it interesting how utahime is in the panel as well with a “?” to express her confusion at his words. let’s overthink dissect that. why is she there in the first place? if the message was to let gakuganji know that gojo is aware of his ulterior motives then a panel with gakuganji and gojo would have sufficed. why add utahime with a question mark?

here’s a personal headcanon of mine that makes no absolute sense, but who cares? it makes me happy LOL. so let’s examine the panel. gojo’s face is more simplified and cartoonish with a grey background on top and some sort of white bubble surrounding the three characters. gakuganji is staring at utahime and gojo. in the official viz translation, he replies to mei with, “i wonder how much!”

normal and logical explanation: shading the principal by asking out loud how much mei was paid by him to avoid monitoring yuuji.

gojohime brainrot explanation:

mei: “there’s no value in something that can’t be bought since you can’t exchange that for money”

gojo: (in response) i wonder how much utahime’s love would cost if it did have a price.

utahime: ?

you’re probably thinking i’m delulu (true) BUT HEAR ME OUT. IT WOULD SOMEWHAT MAKE SENSE IN THIS CONTEXT...

mei’s saying seems to be what she lives by. relationships, love, friendships, etc. do not matter to her as this is evident when she ultimately abandons everyone in shibuya to escape to malaysia, selling all her stocks before japan’s economy goes down. she doesn’t care about anyone else. she even takes advantage of ui ui’s adoration for her. she contrasts utahime. utahime is loved by her students. children, especially teenagers, are picky when it comes to choosing the adults they admire and respect. while everyone trusts gojo, they do not respect him because of his childishness and overall absurdity. it’s refreshing to see how they always call him an idiot or have a -_- face when he’s around. when akutami says everyone absolutely adores utahime-sensei, it says a lot. we haven’t seen her interact with her students all that much, but she’s obviously close to them because she’s frequently arguing with momo. even a closed off person like mechamaru wanted to keep her away from danger. she most certainly expresses a lot of concern and care for her students, and gojo and her students can pick up on this.

i’ve talked about this in every post LOLOL but there’s a reason why he went to utahime first to help him investigate. utahime is a loyal person through and through. she would never do something that harms the students even if she was offered everything in the world. she values relationships above everything else. besides her concern for the students, how else was i able to come to this conclusion about her character? well, she got shoko to stop smoking because she was worried about how it might damage her friend’s health. from these two details, it’s obvious that she’s the complete opposite of mei.

maybe that’s why he calls her weak. she’s too selfless and compassionate in a world where every sorcerer is for themselves. the world is cruel as a sorcerer. no matter how hard you try to fight, in the end, you’ll always die alone. remember his talk with megumi after the baseball game? after witnessing megumi pull a sacrificial bunt to help his teammates advance, gojo has a talk with megumi about his attitude and potential. he says that being selfless and caring about others is not a bad thing, but in a world like this, where people always die alone, he is wasting his potential by being concerned with others. it’s okay to be selfish. this is why we see fierce independence in a lot of the sorcerers like mei, nanami, and gojo. they each have their own reasons as to why they work alone, but it’s still a common characteristic. i feel like utahime doesn’t have a selfish bone in her body. i speculate that her selflessness is the exact reason why she is being held back. during her mission to exorcise a grade 1 spirit by herself, the final task before being promoted to grade 1, she likely got distracted trying to help civilians out of danger and failed her mission. he’s right when he says she doesn’t have the guts to be the traitor, utahime doesn’t have it in her to do something so boldly solely for her own benefit.

after this long tangent, how does this relate to your headcanon, ootahime?

as you know, love is not transactional. you can’t pay someone to love you. what if gojo is asking himself how much it would cost to buy her love. hence, her confusion because she is oblivious to what he really means. it could be probable because gakuganji is observing not only gojo, but utahime as well. so what gojo says must involve her too, right?

or she could just be confused because his words seem out of place because she is unaware of what gakuganji is doing behind everyone’s back. that explanation makes sense for viz’s official translation but it doesn’t make sense when he says, “spoken from experience!” because his words make sense in that context. he’s basically saying that mei’s beliefs must be based on her past experiences so he understands why she feels this way. that’s an appropriate response to mei’s statement so i don’t see why utahime would be confused by this. unless i’m interpreting this whole scene completely wrong. in that case, whoopsies!

let me know if you’re confused because i’m willing to clarify. idk why but i found this really difficult to explain. maybe because i’m reaching so hard haha

chapter 40

he finds any way he can to tease her. they seem like a married couple watching a movie or something. does he take pride in being the only person she doesn’t get along with? i mean, she says it herself so he is aware she thinks he’s annoying, but he keeps picking on her anyway. he doesn’t even pick on his enemies this much LMAOOO i think the only other person he likes to make fun of is gakuganji but he does so because he doesn’t agree with his views. with utahime it’s different. he trusts her a lot and even looks out for her.

chapter 44

why are there two separate instances of gakuganji observing utahime and gojo’s interactions from afar? nah i’m just playing. he’s just looking because he’s concerned she’ll run into the semi-grade 1 curse he had for yuuji. OKAY BUT I NOTICED SOMETHING KINDA CUTE? whenever utahime says something suddenly, he always has those 3 little triangles near his head. it’s like he’s thinking, “oh! utahime is speaking, i must listen <3″ look at his face too. he’s looking at her like :O

this is also an example of her showcasing her concern for the students in front of gojo. i feel like he questions why she’s so caring because if it were him, he would have left the student to figure it out themselves. i really wonder how she would react if he answered her truthfully when she asked what he’d do if she were the traitor.

chapter 45

there’s not much to say here...they’re just cute. i know it’ll never happen but i’d like to see them fight side by side one day. i’m aware that gojo works best alone but i just want to see how they’d work together, okay? 😔

chapter 45

see the little triangles on his head again? UGH SO CUTE.

chapter 45

IS THIS NOT INTENTIONAL??? they share the same thoughts. he even finished her thought. mannnnnnnnnnnnn what is akutami doing? giving us false hope and stripping it away just for fun? making them work so well together for what??

chapter 52

cute how he looks out for her. i have nothing more to say LOL

chapter 53

notice how they’re sitting across from each other? HEHE

chapter 53

yet another instance of her caring for her students in front of gojo. in the anime she has the cutest expression when she says she’s glad the students are safe. i bet gojo saw that too. i also bet that she looks prettier from his point of view.

extra

from the manga and light novels, gojo and utahime are the ones that talk about sports the most. he most definitely chose baseball to cheer her up. it’s not a coincidence people!

i feel like i had a lot more to say but i completely lost my train of thought while writing this, especially with chapter 40. i’m once again writing this at 4 in the morning LOL........ please please please add on or share your thoughts! thank you for reading and sorry for any mistakes.

#gojohime #gouta #gojo x utahime

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everythingsinred · 3 years

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Let's Talk About Natsumikan: Natsume (pt. 3)

Previously, we started talking about Natsume, how cold he is, and his mannerisms. If you want, you can think of this next segment as the final analysis for this stretch of plot where Natsume is being fully introduced and his behaviors explored. After this one, things will start to get really interesting!

TW for bullying, suicidal ideation, depression, mental illness, and child abuse. Almost all of my essays will be heavily focused on one or all of these themes so if these topics are triggering to you, it might be best to not read.

Chapter Nine

We went crazy analyzing the episode counterpart in the anime, going over the dodgeball game and all of its consequences regarding Natsume’s feelings for Mikan. The manga has just as much to analyze regarding Natsume, but very little of it is as pleasant!

In the manga, Natsume does not start falling for Mikan here. There is no beautiful scene where she confesses this was all done to make him smile. There is no pretend peace for Natsume at the end of the episode where he and Ruka muse about the game.

No, this is worse.

The beginning concept is more or less the same, but with significantly less emphasis on Natsume individually. In fact, Tsubasa tells Mikan Natsume isn’t solely to blame for the chaos in Class B--that they all need a way to let out their feelings and start having fun instead.

Natsume ends up sucked into the game against his will. He does not feel like playing, but he goes along with it when the bet is made--that is, if Mikan loses, she and her team need to be servants forever, but if she wins the other team has to quit their bullying of Substitute-sensei forever. There is no focus on Natsume ditching, or even on Natsume at all. Really Natsume only gets into it when he sees Ruka has been roped into joining Mikan’s team by accident. Natsume despises Mikan and, considering that Ruka has been kidnapped by her before, is not any happier to see him in Mikan’s custody again. He hits her in the head with the ball on purpose, knowing it would be out of bounds, because he wants to hurt her more than he wants to get her out of the game.

From Natsume's perspective, it does seem like she's trying to push his buttons on purpose lmao.

Natsume’s team has way more players, but because they’re afraid to hit Ruka on accident and face Natsume’s wrath, and because they are too crowded on their side, they have some obstacles. Sumire attempts to salvage this through good old fashioned cheating. Whether Natsume is privy to this seems unimportant. He doesn’t care about winning or losing either way, and doesn’t seem like he’s actively bullying the teacher to begin with like the others are. Now he’s just playing against Mikan for stealing Ruka away.

Compared to the anime’s version, the manga’s counterpart might seem anticlimactic, or less fun. But the truth is that the dodgeball game in the manga was never about befriending Natsume. Mikan never considered that because she despises him, maybe the same amount that he hates her. Creating a friendship is the last thing on either of their minds. This chapter is about Mikan finally feeling more at place in Class B as a whole, rather than winning over Natsume.

This chapter carries weight for him on an entirely different level. Natsume might have gotten himself involved with the game, and might have even had a bit of fun, but that was never going to last.

Natsume's life vs. Class B's life. Shadows vs. Shinies!

Natsume goes to get a drink of water after the game, where he encounters Persona, who tells him he has a mission. Right after this, we have a panel of the kids of Class B wondering what they should play next. This is the most obvious visual we will get of the jarring divide between Natsume’s life and that of the rest of Class B. Even Ruka seems to fit in with the other kids, despite trying to align himself more with his best friend. Natsume truly will never be like them, even if he does let himself have fun. He will always have to stop, put away the game, and don his mask for his missions. He can’t be a child like they can; his life is too dark.

In the anime, Persona is hidden in a tree but does not confront Natsume. If anything, he is a mere shadow looming over Natsume, threatening to bring darkness on Natsume’s newfound sunshine. In the manga, Persona’s presence is more potent.

The other children can laugh and play games and the biggest worry they have is what they will play next time. For Natsume, he will never belong with the rest of them, no matter how much they might admire him. Persona is just a reminder that Natsume isn’t like the rest of them.

Chapter Ten

Natsume is in a sour mood from the mission he recently went on, and Iinchou confirms this by saying he’s been grumpy since the dodgeball game. I talked about other reasons he may have been angry in the anime but in the manga it’s indisputable that Persona is the cause.

Thus, he has no qualms telling Mikan how it is: that her grandpa isn’t receiving the letters because they aren’t being sent, and that the teachers can’t be trusted. All of the things Ruka told her before are now coming from the horse’s mouth: this school is a prison. And again he reiterates: he and Mikan are marked, and more than anybody else, they’re treated differently from the rest of the kids. He is, after all, even more isolated from his loved ones than the rest are. On New Years, when everyone gets some letters and cards from loved ones, Natsume is the only one who’s not allowed anything. For him to imagine that there’s a kind-hearted teacher willing to send a letter or two is simply not even worth his time.

Okay but. Like. Nobody asked you, though.

It’s hard to say for sure why Natsume decided to tell Mikan this (other than to plant the seed of doubt in Mikan’s head story-wise). It’s possible that he wanted to help her, but keep in mind that he still hates her at this point. It’s far more likely that he, after a period of missions and consequent depleted health, is not in the mood to tolerate her rose-colored lenses and is much more willing to destroy her idealism and say it like it is, to shut her up.

After all, his threat from the Northern Woods is still relevant: he truly thinks that she will come to regret enrolling at the academy. If nothing else has worked to dampen her spirits, maybe the realization that she has been lied to will do the trick. He's just helping that epiphany along.

Chapter Eleven

The school festival is approaching and Mikan is dead set on making friends with people she wouldn’t normally consider. Naturally, this means trying with Natsume, who burns her hair and tells her to piss off.

Comparing the manga to the anime with this particular chapter is fascinating. In the anime, Natsume has already started liking Mikan. He helps her come up with ideas for her class to do and even encourages her to make up with her senpais when they have an argument. She starts understanding his unique type of kindness and appreciating his presence. It’s a cute episode where they can relate to each other and bond.

In the manga, they still hate each other. Mikan only approaches him because of Narumi’s advice, and because he doesn’t care, Natsume doesn’t mind burning her hair to get her away from him. He is in a sour mood because he can’t participate, made clear when Seaweed-head, Sumire’s brother, makes an appearance. He taunts both Mikan and Natsume for their lame ability classes, particularly the dangerous ability class, because they’re not even allowed to enter the festival. He makes a comment, something along the lines of them being “perfect partners” as a result (exhibit who’s-even-keeping-count-anymore of them being paired off before they even like each other). Natsume burns his hair too and calls him “fried seaweed”, playing off of Mikan’s insult for him.

You can't see his eyes in these panels, and then he walks off, so it's almost easy to fall for the idea that he couldn't care less... but we know better.

Mikan later runs into him again, and this is where there is some consistency. In the anime, they are both clearly outcasts regarding the festival. Everyone expects the worst from the special ability class, and the dangerous ability class isn’t even allowed to enter the competitions. In the manga, the same things are true, and they are both aware of this.

Mikan, shocked at seeing him again, drops all her papers. She’s expecting him to insult her or use his alice again, on account of him being a “hateful person”, but Natsume does no such thing. They’re the only ones who would truly get it, being left out, so Natsume says instead that he doesn’t get what all the hype is about. Such a big fuss over nothing. Pathetic, even. He picks up her papers for her, though he doesn’t have to move much to do so. They stand in silence for a moment.

I mean... he didn't have to pick up her papers for her.

Perhaps his hatred for her is actually cooling. She is struggling through similar things as he is, and there’s room for bonding between them, even if neither of them particularly wants to. Whatever the reason, Natsume is choosing to just talk to her instead of insulting or teasing her here. Moreover, the way he says all this, so transparently, as if he wouldn’t have found the festival interesting even if he could participate, is something she can see through. You can imagine Mochu or Sumire nodding in agreement with his statement, maybe even pretending they thought so too this whole time, rather than connecting the dots as Mikan does. Natsume has a similar viewpoint on many things, things that are “all hype over nothing”, in his opinion, like the festival or even kissing that he actually does want to do.

If Natsume can't participate, then Ruka won't either...

At the end of the chapter, Ruka comes to hang out with Natsume, choosing time with his best friend over meetings about the festival. He knows better than anyone probably how Natsume feels, being left out. Ruka will always choose Natsume over everything else, as he always has done, and keeping him company so he doesn’t feel lonely is an easy thing to sacrifice. It is his way of keeping his promise that he will make sure Natsume doesn't feel alone at the academy.

Chapter Twelve

Yet another chapter where the plots diverge from the anime’s version of events, Chapter Twelve is our trip to Central Town. Just like in the anime, Natsume is Mikan’s one condition to go to Central Town, and he is only convinced by Youichi.

It would have been nice to see the time Natsume and Yo-chan first met, and how Natsume became so close to him since he doesn't seem fond of any other dangerous ability types.

It’s nice knowing that Natsume has people he loves even at the academy, other than Ruka, and things that can make him smile, if even for a brief moment. Youichi looks up to Natsume and Natsume acts like a protective big brother, which is something he’s had past experience with, as revealed in this chapter.

Once in Central Town, Natsume lingers by a jewelry story, where he sees a hair-clip that reminds him of Aoi. It’s something that would suit her, but he can’t get it for her. The reader can see that Natsume is a brother, and that his mystery sister is part of his tragic backstory (oh, to see Aoi animated ;-;). Mikan naturally misunderstands this and then Natsume is absent from the rest of the chapter. It’s almost like he was trying to prove the point that his presence could hardly be felt and wouldn’t make a difference in her trip, something she was distressed about.

Yeah, so Natsume hasn't seen his sister in two years and doesn't know if she's even safe. For people with close sibling relationships, this is like. the definition of hell.

In the anime, Mikan includes him by giving him some howalon, but in the manga no such exchange occurs. He spends this trip mostly on his own, not even with Ruka or Youichi.

I wonder if the hair-clip was upsetting to him to the extent that he wanted the time to himself, or if it was a more general feeling of not being able to fit in anyway so why even bother, similar to the dodgeball chapter. Either way, he stays gone, and that’s fine. We’ll see plenty of him in the chapters to come.

Conclusion

This is the last edition of analyzing Natsume this way, where he has disdain for Mikan while maneuvering her cheerful little antics. In the next edition, we'll see a little of what Natsume's dark secret life looks like, the one that caused him to be like this. We'll also see a monumental shift in the way he views Mikan and then this will start looking a lot more like a ship essay heheheehhehe.

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#gakuen alice #alice academy #hyuuga natsume #natsume hyuuga #natsumikan #sakura mikan #mikan sakura #my meta #ga #mine #ga meta #ga meta: nm #ga meta: manga #ga meta: manga nm #let's talk about natsumikan #let's talk about natsumikan: natsume #the scene with the papers makes me smile so much #they are FATED. they are NARRATIVELY PAIRED. they are SOULMATES.

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we-rate-tmnt · 4 years

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I request: Leonardo. Please and thank you 🙏.

Idk if everyone loves Leo or if my header and avatar just remind everyone about this amazing blue boy. (This one’s super silly btw. I’m just sillier as time goes on. Character development I guess?)

The iconic leador Leonardo (1987)

Bro idk why but I loved this Leo. I have a tiny memory, especially with this version but I clearly remember that I thought he was the funniest and the coolest. I mean, he had swords, what was I supposed to do as a 7-year-old. NOT like him??? Anyway, while Raph was the best at insult comedy, I think Leo had the best puns and punchlines. I really like how nonchalant this Leo is compared to his iterations, going along with really silly ideas and having fun along the way. But because of this, his leadership is a little forced at times, he seems like such a chill and fun dude that when he gets serious, I have to squint and ask ‘are you Leo? Or were you just putting on act a moment ago?’ Or my perception is entirely warped over time. Either way, good turtle boy, could have used some work tho. 5.7/10

Here comes grumpy lad wooo this is all read very monotone btw Fearless Leader (2003)

What. What the fuck happened. I was actually so confused when Leo turned really angry and serious and almost manic. I thought that episode when he popped into Casey’s window and was like ‘Hey bitch lets go beat the shit out of some lowlifes’ I was WOAH THERE BUDDY BACK UP BACK UP BACK TF UP. It was so sudden to me and when it was finally explained, it made some sense??? Like yeah, character development is great an’ all but this ain’t it chief. I can’t imagine what it was like having to wait for these episodes to release one at a time. Bc I watched every episode back to back on Youtube and I was genuinely bamboozled. But when you have an experience like that where guilt is weighing down on you from a situation you couldn’t control, it would’ve been HELLA HELPFUL to have at least a flashback, like a line saying ‘I was so useless!’ at BARE MINIMUM. Like right after Shredder is booted off to Planet Zula, Donnie would notice that Leo didn’t seem all that happy and would ask why and Leo would get upset and yell at Donnie saying that ‘You wouldn’t understand’, ‘You don’t know how I felt, how I feel because of that’, etc. Like you don’t even have to say he felt guilty or helpless, just give us something to grab onto. We’re merely six-year-olds who thought they could climb the YMCA rock wall in easy mode but instead the script riders harnessed us up on the hard one and wouldn’t let us come down until we rang the little bell at the top. I think that is the only problem I had with his Leo. The sudden change of calm and decisive to angry and irrational was so jarring that it felt unnatural without that crucial context. If you want a surprise reveal, at least hint at the reveal (like just about every Disney movie with their ‘twist’ villains) not wait until the very last moment. I think this might be my least favorite Leo and I think the season where he stood out the most and seemed the strongest was Fast Forward (Which was GOOD FIGHT ME), especially in scenes with Dark Leo, his clone. He sees so much of himself in Dark Leo but he also sees something he had once grasped (AKA the poorly written character arc, I CANNOT stress how bad I thought it was). Although, I honestly think he’s a really good character and he’s a pretty neat guy. However, this score is entirely held up by Fast Forward and his connection with Usagi, sword bros to the end of time. 3/10 (2 for FF and 1 for Usagi)

And now a Leo that makes me genuinely feel UWU Leo (2012)

I cannot stress how much I like this guy! Like his design is so appealing, his dedication, his obsession with Space Heroes, like I FUCKING LOVE IT. And everyone knows, that shit with Karai, at first when they didn’t realize they were related, I can let slide but kajsdflksadf what even like why did the writers feel the need to add in more ‘love interest’ implications like yuck yuck yuck. The only two interactions with Leo and Karai that I really like are when Leo defeats her using the healing hands technique and when Leo has a goth/emo/punk/idk I’m new here phase and they team up and EXPLOSIONS. He was introduced to us as being incredibly naive and his idea of leadership is from some old cartoon that’s basically star trek but ethically questionable. After his fights in season 1, to the finale with the technodrome, you can see his growth. He’s able to formulate plans and make life or death decisions. BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE. When Leo got hurt, I felt like the oof sound effect mixed with some tears I normally shed at some Shojo manga bs. While the episodes following were super weird, it was a nice way to help Leo recover, not only physically but spiritually (Although I don’t remember the spirit arc at all except the epic Raph vs Fishface fight, so we’re skipping that). When Master Splinter really died, you could tell there was a huge impact on Leo, but he had to remain stoic and lead the family now. A lot of heartbreaking moments in this series came from Leo and I’m glad they took at least some thought into developing him. Tiny head Leo will haunt my nightmares, but the giggly fanboy will warm my heart constantly. 6/10

I only have one word for this Leo (Heroes in a Half Shell: Blast to the Past)

This is a super crazy bad idea accent on the super crazy bad part have I mentioned it’s also a really terrible idea/10

Okay, spoiler alert, didn’t really think this Leo was that grand Leo (2014/2016)

Painfully average. He didn’t stand out that much, Raph was part of the focus and had that touching scene at the end, Donnie was ICONIC and Mikey (with his weird-ass eyes) was super lively and funny! Leo? Uh, I don’t remember a single line he said. Because he never really grabbed my attention, I don’t have too much to say on this version. The Raph and Leo fight felt forced and the whole ‘keep this stuff that could turn us human a secret’ was pretty pointless and was added just to cause drama, I don’t even remember what that Splinter and Leo conversation was about. Design-wise, really neat! You can see some more traditional Japanese clothing/style mixed with modern (I’d feel a lot better about this assumption if some could tell exactly what the heck he’s wearing, but I get traditional Japan warrior vibes from it) in his look which was super neat! Other than that, if you like him, please tell me why because I don’t get. He was just kinda eh. 5/10

AHHH MY BOY YASSS WHOOO!! Neon Leon (2018)

Okay, I loved Ben Schwarts already from Parks and Rec but like him being Sonic AND Leo, like DUDE. He’s super funny by himself but teamed up with this shows writing and animation, it makes it hilarious. I literally love this Leo so much, maybe because we’re alike but honestly, he’s amazing. I love his design with the red and yellow crescents accenting his skin and livening up his color pallet. He has a very healthy and natural dynamic with his brothers, he’s the first to know what’s wrong and tries his best to make up for his actions. This is really prominent in the most recent episodes, along with the episode portal jacked. In both, Leo is separated from his brothers. Portal Jacked is in a more literal sense, while Air Turtle handles in more of an emotional sense. While both are brief, Leo sees his error and tries his best to make it up to them. I love his dynamic so much and it’s so nice to see something like this compared to the unnecessary drama and tension between the brothers in the previous series. It’s refreshing and this is something a younger audience needs to see; instead of fighting, it’s better to work together and improve yourself along the way. Improvement is a big theme for Leo here. He’s a goofball, makes jokes at every opportunity and isn’t quite skilled at fighting or using his weapon. But he grows over time, he learns to manage his power and he’s working on mastering it. He’s trying to put aside his narcissism more and focuses on his family. I think the approach they took with him rising to leader rather than slapping it on his forehead was the goddamn best decision they could make. He’s making plans, finding loopholes, helping out and getting out of his comfort zone. I cannot stress how well this show has handled Leo, along with the other characters. I can’t wait to see more episodes about his growth and I am awarding him with one of the greatest honors I could give... 10/10

Storytime: I drew a super cute 2012 Leo, you should look at him. Shameless self-promo, but you should follow me on my main blog bc I’m nice and I draw pretty pictures. Also. I have a little 2012 Leo Happy Meal toy??? I think??? guarding my window and he’s been there for YEARS. I need to bring him in and refresh his paint job.

Wow! I didn’t expect this many requests for Leo, so the blog will be momentarily spammed with the requests, but it shouldn’t be too much! Up next should be the last turtle (Mikey) and then we can get to some REALLY great requests I’m eager to answer. As usual, please comment and reblog! I’d love to hear your opinion!

#Tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #leonardo #1987 leo #2003 leo #2012 leo #2014 leo #2016 leo #rottmnt leo #Rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #asks #I forgot how my tagging system worked

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soyouareandrewdobson · 4 years

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Things Dobson mocks because he is too ignorant...

One “talent” Dobson seems to have, is the ability to alienate a lot of people through his opinions. And while he claims to be proud of that talent because he believes those he alienates are just assholes and racists who disagree with him CAUSE he attacks their abhorrent worldviews, the reality is much simpler; On average, people just don’t like him cause Dobson has no idea what he is talking about, which won’t however stop him from mocking the mere existence of certain things/interests and the people enjoying them. And those people tend not to be racists who want to see non-white people go extinct, but simply nerds and enthusiasts who like to enjoy their hobbies without the input of someone who won’t get over how he was bullied as a nerd back in school, but at the same time will bully you for being “nerdier”.

I could go into more detail how I mean that by analyzing a lot of his anime related SYAC strips as well as his soapbox strips on comic culture in a row. However, for the sake of “simplicity” I just like to go over one of his oldest strips, published around 2011. Back when Dobson was portraying himself still as a human. This strip alone will show how even a decade back, Dobson could just be an asshole to any “nerd” who dared to be into stuff he wasn’t, how he could manage to piss off many people all in one going AND be unfunny.

Now the first thing I want to put out is that I do not even think that Dobson’s primary intention with this strip was to mock others and their interests. See, one thing about So you are a cartoonist especially in its early days was, that it was in a way Dobson’s attempt to make himself look likeable in the eyes of others. He portrayed himself just as an Average Joe, wanting to make comics. This strip itself was even part of a series of strips I like to call “Things Dobson likes/dislikes”, which really were just him in each panel pointing at something he is into or not.

And honestly, part of me does not mind it. It is just Dobson’s attempt to show others how “quirky” or contrarian he is. The problem really steams more from the following two facts: a) It is not really a cartoon or comic if you think about it, because there isn’t a joke, punchline or story attached to them, just Dobson showing off what kind of person he is and b) that his “things I do not understand” comic is really mean spirited compared to the others if you look just a bit deeper into it.

Right from the beginning the strip is just indicative that this will be more mean spirited than Dobson will later like to claim it was. Otherwise he would not feel the need to say “chillax” as a sort of semi defense mechanism, cause if he really intended to make his grievances heard through “good fun” he would not need to say that. So from the gate we can assume its snarkier and more hurtful than it needs to be. So lets get through the things he does not understand, shall we?

Sports: I will admit that I am not really into sports myself, neither as a fan or someone participating in it competitively. I go to the gym however in order to feel good about myself and do something for my health instead of going every Friday to McDonalds. In addition, as long as you do not go overboard with being a fan or participating in it, I understand how sport can unite people (see events like the Olympics and Soccer worldcups) , and while I am baffled upon the fact that the salary of many people in sports (particularly soccer and football) are ridiculous high in addition to money they make with advertisement deals etc. I have respect for them. Respect for how they can stick to a hard training schedule, can take injuries, will do stuff for charity etc. Furthermore, unlike Dobson, I do not believe people who are into sports are dumb. Yes, I know the stereotype about college footballers and sports who only graduated because of their sports activities and are otherwise “meatheads”, but that stereotype does not apply to everything in reality, Dobson. Ever heard of NFL lineman Duvernay-Tardif, who also has a degree as a surgeon? Granted, he made that title only in 2018, seven years after the comic was made, so look a bit further and see what we find… Oh, look: Myron Rolle, college football player and later members of the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers around 2010/12: Has a bachelor degree in exercise science and in 2008 studied for a Master of science for medical anthropology in the UK.

Ron Mix, famous AFL and NFL football player forever immortalized in the Hall of Fame has a Juris Doctor Degree and after his work as a sports became an attorney.

And that are just three examples googled up in relation to American football. Other famous sports worldwide have degrees in medical and sports related sciences. Heck, one of Europe’s most famous boxer’s in the 2000s, Vitali Klitschko, not only has a doctors degree in sports, he is nowadays head of the governing party of Ukraine, following the independence of the country in 2014.

So stop wiggling your three sets of eyebrows and cease your smug grin and shove that periodic table up your ass, Dobson. I bet you yourself don’t even fucking know the chemical symbol for silver or titanium you Agonizing Twat who never got over the fact some popular kids in school bullied him.

Final Fantasy: I doubt Dobson ever even tried to play Final Fantasy or ANY JRPG, honestly. Heck, not only does Cloud look pretty wrong (anime hair seems to be another thing Dobson can not draw) but frankly, the statement of Cloud being an emo is false and is based on misinterpretation. Bear with me for a bit; Final Fantasy 7 is in my opinion a good game and it had a major impact on the series and the perception of JRPGs in the west. However, I do also believe that many people overhyped its quality over the years. Including SquareEnix themselves, who particularly around 2005 released all sorts of tie in and sequel games, including also the movie “Advent Children”. Or as I like to call those things, Tetsuya Nomura’s wankfest, because now all of sudden everything is related to some guy called Genesis, we have even more characters to supposedly care about than we already got through the original game, happy end override happens almost on every corner and “goth” aesthetics are everywhere. And Cloud himself became an embodiment of that emo/loner stereotype in anime and manga around that time, despite never having been like that in the original game if you ask me. Yes, Cloud in the original game went through a lot of emotional trauma and he was not like some happy go lucky laid back shonen manga protagonist. But he also didn’t come off as a pretentious fucktard who never showed emotions and shut himself off from his friends and allies. He was more of a determined person who still cared for others and wanted to stop Sephirot so no one suffered like he did. His most “depressing” moment was when Sephirot revealed his false memories, making Cloud question his own existence as an independent being to the point he was broken enough to hand the Meteor sphere to Sephirot, but that was about it. But hey, “emos” sell better, so SquareEnix tried to sell that aesthetics and others were just so dumb and further misinterpreted it as emoness being Cloud’s main character trait, when in reality freaking Squall Leonhard in his original game was worse than Cloud in comparison.

I also find the implication of Dobson, that Final Fantasy is pretentious in that panel funny as fuck. Cause Final Fantasy 13s’ pretty dumb story and wankery of clicheed anime tropes not withstanding, the average Final Fantasy game has a straightforward fantasy plot of good guys vs bad guys, with some twists and anime tropes thrown into the mix. The most pretentious guys in those games really are just the bad guys when they talk on average about how the world is suffering and misery, and even that is just straightforward nihilism to justify why they want to destroy everything. It is in fact so straightforward, most little kids will get it particularly in the first 6 games of the series, which are just set in more “classic” fantasy worlds to begin with. I am not saying the Final Fantasy franchise as a whole is flawless (I really am not a fan of 13 and its sequels, but if you like it, you do your thing) but you do not need a thesaurus to get why people enjoy it or individual games from it. So stop hating on an entire game series, which btw has actually some pretty awesome female characters in protagonistic roles in it too.

Twilight: Both an example of Dobson’s hypocricy and idiocy. Idiocy cause frankly, what is hard to understand why people liked the books? Twilight (in my opinion) was just a professionally published self insert fanfiction, in which Bella/the reader fell in love with the local bad boy who just happened to also be a vampire. Sure, a vampire in name only (seriously, if you asked me, the Cullens could be replaced with a lot of other fantasy creatures and it would barely affect anything), but that is beside the point. Shameless romance stories about someone falling in love with the bad boy who deep down has a heart of gold and just needs someone to fix them, are nothing new. So I was not surprised that people, particularly teenaged girls and other women, enjoyed it. It was the romance literature equivalent to fast food which just happened to explode in popularity because Young adult novels were a simultaneous hit and something needed to fill the void after Harry Potter. I read the first book myself and I thought nothing in particularly wrong with it, aside of the fact I thought the book itself was plotwise kinda dull. But that was not why people bought it, they wanted Bella getting together with the bad boy. The fact Dobson did not understand on what the popularity was build up on, is just an example for how Dobson does not even in theory understand how stories work and what it is on a pure technical level that makes them interesting and sell worthy to others.

As for the hypocritical aspect, that comes up nowadays when Dobson claims he feels bad for mocking Twilight all those years ago and how people were bad for making fun of it and Stephenie Meyer. That those who did it were like women hating assholes and still are if they do not apologize. Cause frankly, I feel a majority of people “apologizing” are just dishonest with themselves now. Apologizing primarily because in the eyes of some other people they look up to, if they do not they will be pariahs. Especially when extend of their initial childish disdain for Twilight becomes clear. I e.g. do not hate Lindsay Ellis aka the former Nostalgia Chick, but the fact she made a big apology video on Meyer was laughable when you see how she “stood” to her opinion back in the day to the point she wrote a novel to mock the kind of story Twilight did. Sure, she admitted to a lot of her own faults back in the day so there was also some self reflection to it and I respect that. But I think in a way this was also a tactic to just appease some other people and it does not take away that initially she had those thoughts about Twilight. And frankly, Twilight is problematic in a way.

Again, I read the first book and I did not consider it the worst thing in the world, just kinda dull for my taste. However, having read on a lot of things that happen in the book series itself, it is clear that Bella and Edward are some pretty horrid and selfish characters who barely get called out or face consequences for terrible actions. Take also into account the pacing of the story and you get on average a book series that deserved a certain amount of criticism from a technical point of view and Meyer’s at least being questioned about some of her decisions in the writing process. It did however not deserve book burnings or people mocking and harassing fans and the author, the former being mocked by Dobson here funnily enough.

Transformers: And what is it you find weird about people caring for cars? This is not even me being a cars fan here or something, I just ask because even that “explanation” is no explanation at all. He is just saying “I don’t care for X because I also do not care much for Y”. The correlation between the two is missing.

As for why people care about those two things Dobson, perhaps it is for the following:

Cars because people like the aesthetics, the technics, like to build stuff or get a rush by driving them. Transformers, because people just like action as well as the lore to the franchise and think giant robots turning into vehicles is cool, as long as Michael Bay is not involved in creating a story.

Furries: As with cars, likely aesthetics. Anthropomorphic animals have been part of our culture even long before cartoons (just look at fables, fairy tales and legends all across the world involving animals) so I assume there is even something more subconsciously involved with it. And frankly, I like furries myself. Some of them are way better artists than Dobson could ever be. That said, I do as an individual draw a line at furries that harass other people and show creators, hurt animals or are combining their interests with some really weird sex fetishes (two words: diaper fur). Which I guess do many other people cause there is a healthy amount of furries and non furries who have standards. The thing is just Dobson seems to think all furries are the same. Not to forget that for a long time he did everything denying he was interested in furries, citing his college as a reason for it cause people there installed a hatred for furries into him. A wonder then he would even enjoy Looney Tunes anymore. And honestly, himof all people mocking people for having a “sick” fetish? I am sorry Dobson, but compared to the kind of inflation you drew, I would say the average furry (as in someone who just draws two adult fursonas making out with each other under consent) is less “disturbing” than you. Someone who did not just inflate the female, at times underaged victims, but also made them pop/killed them.

DnD: I wish I had the comment Dobson posted on deviantart under the comic, as in it he digged himself even deeper with every panel and the explanations he gave. Just to show I am not pulling it out of my ass when I say for DnD one of the main reasons he hated it was that he thought nerds made the fantasy genre even nerdier by adding math to it.

Oh no. The fact people have to add numbers from a couple of dices together is too high of a math concept for Dobson. So those people must have absolutely no lives and are all just fat, bald and with acne.

Seriously though, fuck off. I am not into table top gaming, but whoever is, they shall just have fun. And stop body shaming nerds with the way you draw the DnD player here (and in that other infamous DnD comic he did), especially when you yourself look like a shaved egg in real life. Heck, did you know of all people Vin Diesel enjoys DnD?

Just let the people enjoy their adventure campaigns and come together once in a while instead of being shut offs like you, whose only experience with an interactive fantasy story involves playing Skyrim at 10 fps.

And yes, I am aware that Dobson has changed his opinions on DnD now thanks to some podcast. But based on his record, I feel that Dobson only did join it because it is now the cool thing to care on average about DnD as nerd. In addition he also did not own up to his past “mistake” till people just called him out on his bullshit often enough.

Klingons: Okay, I am not much of a Trekkie myself, but again, I get that people just like the aesthetics of them and the story crafted around Klingon culture within the franchise. So, just let them have fun with it. What is even the “joke” here? That people enjoy it despite it “just” being black Asian barbaric samurai in space, which is a very simplistic, in my opinion even outright racist description based on the choice of words here? Frankly, I am glad he did not just also add a racist Japanese accent to the guy here.

So there you have it: Things Dobson does not understand and essentially mocks for existing. And don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with Dobson not “getting” those things. Everyone has their own tastes, likes and dislikes as well as reasons why they are into it or not. I e.g. understand that people enjoy Bob’s Burger, but I myself really do not like the show much, because most characters come off as annoying to me in terms of personality and quirks. That said, I understand the visual appeal to it, if you like it that is fine and if you ass why I don’t like it I will give an explanation to it. What I will not do is make a comic mocking the existence of it, imply that my disinterest is correlated to me thinking there is also something inherently wrong with you if you enjoy it and build my disinterest on none existing issues with the thing in question.

Dobson however seems to have done that quite a couple of times and combined with his self righteous nature, it becomes kinda obvious why people began hating his stuff to the point that almost all of 4chan and tumblr developed a stern disdain for him.

#adobsonsartwork #adobsonartwork #syac #andrew dobson #twilight #final fantasy 7 #final fantasy #ff7 #sports #western comics #dobson being a prick to nerds #so you are a cartoonist

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mysticalmusicwhispers · 4 years

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APH China Musings

When I start thinking about China, and sometimes countries in general, I get this total disconnect between how the anime/manga portrays the country (especially China) and how a lot of headcanons have them as, especially reading headcanons and art about ancient days.

Ok China-specific content below (headcanons at the very end): Very long post warning

Most of the canon shows him as a sort of weird old grandpa who doesn’t really have all his nuts and bolts in his brainpan and pretends to be cool or whatever (when he’s really not) while his kids all mock him. That APH China has a soft spot for cute things and can’t really understand the others ig, which again kinda makes him a laughingstock for his kids. But, the headcanons I’ve read show him as a really manipulative, sly Old Man who enters contracts/treaties/friendships to benefit him, not for the sake of being kind, and doesn’t really see everybody else on an even level with him which... clashes somewhat to a lot with the canon. HOWEVER, this cunning, darker (?) version of him is way more historically accurate... I like certain things from both versions (and I also like being historically accurate as much as possible) and the fact that headcanons vs canon is so contrasting makes it kinda hard to have one concrete China for my headcanons, it’s like he has split personalities or something lol.

Side note: I’ve never heard/known of anyone Chinese ever saying -aru in English, so... It might be just a voice tic of Chinese people when speaking Japanese, but I sort of get annoyed when it’s added in every other sentence he says in a fanfic. He doesn’t talk like that in the English dubbed anime either, and it seems that the English translations of the manga have also omitted the -aru (except for one strip I believe, correct me if I’m wrong). So please don’t add it in fanfics unless you want the characters to all be speaking Japanese with their own unique voice tics.

However, I do like some parts of the canon portrayal, SUCH AS: his doing tai chi every morning, the portrayal of his relationship with Japan before the “betrayal”, and apparently how he “isn't one to waste a second of time” (from the wiki). So in my head, I try to meld the canon and Sly Old Man together, because I like some aspects of China that may not be explained by either the country’s history, culture, or stereotypes, and honestly I feel like some parts of a country’s personality can just appear spontaneously; you don’t need to be able to explain every part of you from your past experience or the people and country that you make up and represent.

Without further ado, the Headcanons!

- MORNING PERSON, does the whole tai chi thing in the morning with the birds in his garden or something, finds it very relaxing, and then goes back inside for an actual breakfast (I have no idea what he’d eat because Chinese cuisine varies A LOT from region to region, ex. in the north/Beijing region there’s usually soy milk, “Chinese oil stick” which is basically like salty fried dough sticks, and “tofu brains” <-- literal translation, it’s a sort of soupy thing with very soft tofu (very good). In the south, there’s a lot of sweet meats and dim sum, almost like a mini lunch sort of thing, etc.) He’d also drink tea, and never adds sugar (I don’t think restaurants in China ever actually give you sugar packets with tea)

- I feel like he’d be a CAT PERSON nowadays dogs as pets have become more popular in China but before, cats were more common (I think) because of their usefulness as pest control and the fact that they can get their own food; dogs weren’t really kept except to be guard dogs. I feel he’d have gotten used to cats, and also he’d enjoy a quiet pet’s company more

- ANCIENT DAYS/RELATIONSHIPS: He’d probably be slightly manipulative, and ENTER relationships for a trade benefit/power/control/good stuff, but if the relationship goes well and the person is charming (Rome cough cough), he’d slowly warm up and become real friends after a while.

- I agree with the Sly Old Man treatment of COLONIES/TRIBUTE STATES, he’d probably just protect them for the benefits instead of actual Love (but isn’t that what all countries do these days). I do see him as very patronizing to his underlings, because of a) his age and him thinking that he’s seen it all with his dynasty changes and wars and stuff and b) Confucianism, which said to respect your elders and all that, so I think it’d make him slightly full of himself and patronizing (the wiki says this is also his current attitude and I can see that). But I see a situation similar to the relationship one playing out here; as he gets more and more contact with a tribute state he actually grows closer to them in the Normal Human Feeling way, so that would explain his feeling of betrayal when Japan left (literally back-stabbing him), as well as his feeling sad (not just because he lost a trade partner and revenue maker) when Korea was taken. For his tribute states, my headcanon for their relationship is pretty much summed up in this post (esp his relationship with Korea, but also Japan a bit): https://stirringwinds.tumblr.com/post/119403708770/tsk-look-at-you-all-battered-and-bruised-its (patronizing but still caring)

- VERY PRAGMATIC AND EXTREMELY BLUNT. I have no explanation, he just seems like this kind of person (and according to the wiki, he “isn't one to waste a second of time”). Doesn’t care at all if he offends you, intentionally or not (unless he’s trying to impress, of course).

- VERY TRADITIONAL. He probably knows at least a handful of traditional instruments, pipa, ma tou qin, gu zheng, erhu, xun, etc. And will roast people on the internet if they play them wrong (a while back at some really fancy gathering, there was a performer who was in front, mind you, playing a yu (wind instrument) upside down and totally wrong, and that caused a huge firestorm in Chinese social media. I’d like to think China would have been one of those people to be like “what are you doing you know you just made a fool of yourself right?” Incidentally, there’s also an idiom related to the yu that is literally about playing it wrong (literally it’s something like one bad apple can be covered up in a sea of good ones but one by one, people will see you’re bad))

- TRADITIONAL pt. 2: good at calligraphy and also very good at guessing dui lian (apparently called antithetical couplets) hung up during the Lunar New Year. Also adhering to tradition, he gathers up everybody for every single big Chinese/Asian festival to eat together. I know Japan doesn’t interact much with China and China still feels betrayed by him in the manga (the Japanese and Chinese relationship nowadays still isn’t the greatest/closest for multiple reasons) but I’m going to take liberties (and my heart needs fluff). Also, if China invites/drags everybody but Japan to his house, I feel like that’s awkward and one of his kids/siblings would get Japan to come anyway. There would be a lot of arguing at the dinner, about food, politics, memes (from HK), trends, or anything really, but it’s all in good fun, yeah?

- MODERN POLITICS: still a bit of Sly Old Man, and probably very stuck in his ways. Some countries he doesn’t really respect. For example, he doesn’t see America as a fully respectable adult, probably because a) he’s still older and b) I think China agrees with his government’s structure to a point? Like with the way he suffered during the collapse of the Qing Dynasty (Boxer Rebellion, WWI, etc.) I think he’d take any system (including communism) that worked and improved people’s lives. At heart, I think China wants to do what’s right for the people, and at the time, the Communist Party promised that people’s lives would get better under their leadership, and for some, it did. That convinced so many people to take their promise, and I think China would have supported it at the time. As well as, I believe that country’s perspectives of their government is /somewhat/ influenced or warped by their people’s perspective, and /most/ people in China are /okay/ satisfied with the central govt. (not extending this to regional govts, that’s kinda a different issue). So I see China (as a character) being mostly satisfied, and America’s criticism and complaints about him pretty much bounce off, because China doesn’t see his comments worthy of respecting, especially because his govt. is doing ok from his point of view. There are definitely things that need working on, but he won’t take US criticism.

- SLY OLD MAN pt. 2: Basically the same as the tribute state thing, he’ll help you out initially to get your benefits, but if you last long enough, he’ll gradually grow friendship feelings. I feel like this is what real China is trying to do with the “Belt and Road”, basically spreading influence to less developed countries, although it may not be working out. Sort of like manipulation, which also fits in with the Sly Old Man thing.

- I can see why Hima originally designed China as being a bit cold, because I feel if he doesn’t need you, he won’t really talk to you. Although as mentioned above, I also see him start to care for somebody once he takes the effort to get to know you, and will probably care for his close friends long after they’re actually needed.

- I agree with the canon that he can GET ANNOYED EASILY AND SNAPS A LOT, but I see this happening only with people he thinks aren’t interesting enough, are below him, or don’t get him (or are just incessantly annoying).

- Also a bit EGOTISTICAL, but doesn’t show most of the time. Unless you happen to mention a recent achievement, and then he’ll go “Haha! I did that ____ (pick a number from 1,000 to 4,000) years ago!” or something and probably roast you

- SENTIMENTAL OLD SOUL: often reminisces about the past when alone, or with someone he truly trusts (that used to be Japan, but...). Slips into “how did the world get like this?” sometimes to a lot. Feels lonely sometimes too, and can be found stargazing on his front stoop at night

- RELAXING: if he doesn’t have work, he’ll just relax at his house, probably take a long bath/shower and just do nothing, maybe play some sort of instrument for fun, go into his garden and paint/walk around and enjoy the flowers, or watch some new addictive show. If he feels like working, he’ll cook dinner for all his kids/siblings and invite them over (this will also be done if he thinks one is overworking)

Ok those are all the headcanons for now, but probably will be more to come. My love for this Old Man is infinite <3. If you want, reblog/submit/comment your own aph China headcanons! Do you think I did him justice?

#aph china #musings #aph china headcanons #long ass post #long post #aph #hetalia #hws #headcanons

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darthchic · 4 years

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Character War: Zoro vs Sanji

Trying to put my own bias aside, and because I’m bored here in quarantine, I was thinking about how I could fairly break down parts of Zoro and Sanji’s characters and compare them. I want to see if I can analytically decide which character is more well realised or well written (just because there’s always that rivalry between both the characters and the fans, you often can’t help but ask yourself these kinds of questions).

EDIT: OH, and SPOILERS if you wish to read this and are not up to date

If the question was “Who’s the more popular character?” though, Zoro wins hands down, no contest.

So, I broke the two characters down into categories:

– Design

– Fighting Style

– Fights/Achievements

– Coolness

– Backstory

– Gag

– Development

Design: Neither Zoro or Sanji have designs that particularly stand out to me, not within their own universe or in anime in general. Seriously, think of some crazy-ass looking characters you've seen in other anime and Zoro and Sanji simply pale in comparison. Heck, they pale in comparison to some of their fellow crewmates (Usopp, Chopper, Franky, Brook etc.) and over time their designs have probably been... how to put this... made more attractive as time goes on? Cause you know, you gotta let the female fans have some eye candy too. And with attractiveness tends to come more “normalness” (not a word but whatever) cause you can't go too crazy with the overall design in case it becomes off-putting. The only thing that really stands out for Zoro and Sanji respectively is hair colour and eyebrows.

– Still if I had to declare one of them the winner... I'd have to say Sanji, just for his more 'unique' eyebrows. We've seen plenty of anime/manga featuring characters with hair colours that match every colour in the rainbow, so it's commonplace for someone to have green or pink hair and no-one really bats an eye. Peculiar eyebrows however are less common, although not rare (as far as I can tell), but for anime fans, it's something I think people still instantly notice more so than a character's hair colour. So.... point to SANJI! But barely, and it’s not much of a win.

Sanji 1/0 Zoro

Fighting Style: Again, neither a sword fighting style or kicking fight style is exactly uncommon, but I am edging towards Sanji's fighting style and I'll try to justify why, even if it is due to my own personal preferences. To me, sword fighting is often the go-to 'bad-ass' method of fighting, cause, come on, SWORDS ARE COOL (can't help but think about the overwhelming popularity of Pokemon Sword vs Pokemon Shield for example). Sword fights/fighters are iconic and that’s the issue at times for me because I feel like I've seen enough sword fights at this point, and not just in anime. So, while they're fun, their overexposure makes me appreciate something different a lot more.

– To me, Sanji's style has a bit more 'kick' to it (oh yes!) and his reasons for using a kicking style are a bit more unique and interesting as well (being that he’s a cook and can’t damage his hands, the tools to his craft). His style is fun to watch, requires a bit more imagination when designing his moves, but it also has a strange kind of elegance to it which I appreciate. Not that sword fighting can't look elegant (Hello, ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’), but I love that people often joke that some shots of Sanji make it look like he could be a dancer which I find amusing, because it’s true. Plus, I admire the fact that he's the only Straw-hat that fights without either a magic power/devil fruit or a literal weapon (though he has now grown accustomed to the raid suit, so…). But, for the majority of the story so far, the dude has just used his legs and that’s it. And is the 3rd (or fourth if you count Jinbei now) most powerful member of the crew, and still impressively strong overall amongst a massive cast of crazy powerful characters. Also, dude can fly. Actually fly. He can fight in the skies, sing “Walking in the Air” and it would not seem completely ridiculous. So, people reading this may not agree, but, point to SANJI!

Sanji 2/0 Zoro

Fights/Achievements: I feel that most fans prefer Zoro's fights as he tends to take on the second strongest villains of each arc (with Luffy obviously taking on the strongest), which is automatic epicness. I know some fans even argue that Zoro would have no problems taking on the strongest villains in Luffy's place anyway, though I would disagree simply due to the fact that if Luffy were weaker/equal in strength to Zoro then why would he even be captain? The guy who's gonna be the Pirate King can hardly be weaker than one of his own crewmates, it ain't right!

– Anyway, Zoro's battles tend to be straight-up badass one-on-one feats of strength, while Sanji's can be a mix of badass and sometimes plain goofy (thinking of Sanji vs Mr. 2 here or Sanji vs Wanze). And I do think Oda makes it clear that Zoro is the more powerful of the two, making his wins a lot more impressive, awe-inspiring, and show how physically far he’ll go in order to succeed (man should really have no blood left in his body). For me personally though, I often found many of Zoro’s fights a bit dull, like his fight with Mr. 1 for e.g. (ha, ironic), and when I watch his big battle with Kaku, while I like Kaku as a character, I had a hard time taking the image of Zoro fighting a sword-wielding Giraffe seriously. Sanji fighting a wolf with a moustache often looks goofy as well, but at least wolves come across as a bit more threatening (unless you have been on a scary Safari tour o__O…).

– Alas, I would give Zoro the point for fights simply because I know how much the fandom appreciates them and the effort he puts in, BUT.... as for achievements... Maybe I'm being sneaky with this, but for me, while Sanji's fights maybe aren't considered as iconic as Zoro's, his actions towards helping the crew solidified Sanji's usefulness to the crew as not only a fighter but a tactician, and without him at a certain point, there wouldn't be any epic Zoro fights to appreciate. Sanji's rescue of the crew in Alabasta was pretty damn awesome, the fact they wouldn't have even reached Alabasta in the first place if Sanji hadn't gotten a hold of the Alabasta eternal log pose is hilarious, his saving of Usopp and Nami in Skypeia, his enabling of the Merry to escape without being blown to smithereens in the Enies Lobby arc, it's all just undeniably awesome. And to me, just as equally iconic and important as Zoro's fights, sooooo... I'm calling it a TIE!

Sanji 3/1 Zoro

Coolness: HAHA! Ok, come on, I love Sanji, but Oda's portrayal of him can get a bit ridiculous at times and sometimes rob him of his dignity, whereas with Zoro, Oda really doesn't humiliate him that much. He's usually always cool and epic and never seems to leave a negative impression in the eyes of fans. So, no question about it, point to ZORO!

Sanji 3/2 Zoro

Backstory: Ok, maybe it's just me, but I don't think many are gonna argue that Sanji has the better backstory? There's just more of it, it's better fleshed out, it establishes his character relationships and motives far better, it's just... better? Zoro's backstory perhaps is still to be further developed, but as it stands...

– Zoro = Wants to become the greatest swordsman because of a promise he made to his dead rival/childhood friend. Nice, but doesn’t feel very original or special. Where did he come from before all that? Where/who is Zoro's family? Why did he want to be a swordsman in the first place? Cause it's cool? It just leaves me feeling annoyed because there’s these gaps and things left unanswered within his story and I can't tell if Oda's even going to give us any answers! But with a possibility that Zoro is from Wano, maybe something is eventually going to be explained? Still, I feel like Oda needs to be careful he doesn't make a repetitive tragic backstory, cause I worry that at some point he's going to run out of ideas on how to make each new backstory more uniquely depressing than the last, to the point where it's gonna be a 'been there, done that' kind of deal. Or maybe he’ll actually reveal that Zoro has a DUN-DUN-DUN living mother. I mean, that’s rarely done in this series, so that would be pretty shocking.

– Sanji = Born as a quadruplet (still so weird to me) to a royal family, kind mother but douche-bag father. Mother dies saving Sanji's humanity because said douche-bag father violated mother and children by tampering with them before birth in order to make his children into sociopathic weapons. Sanji grew up emotionally and physically abused by father and brothers because he had kindness and compassion, and the abuse got so bad that he was even locked in a jail cell with an iron mask on his face because his father was ashamed of his existence. Mother, of course, dies, leaving Sanji with only an older sister to turn to, who could only be nice to him in secret and laugh at him in public. He decided to become a chef during imprisonment due to his mother giving him the only praise he had ever received and he enjoyed making her happy. Finally escapes douche-bag family thanks to decent sister freeing him, but only after promising to never admit he was related to his douche-bag father, further destroying him emotionally. Next, the ship he worked on was destroyed in a tidal wave, killing all his friends at the time, and left him alone on a rock with little food and a pirate who recently kicked the crap out of him. Went months without food only to find out that the pirate he hated had given him all the food, forcing him to cannibalize himself to survive. And all this happened before he was just 10 years old. So, from then on Sanji grew up with a fixed dedication/appreciation for food, but a clearly messed up self-image due to years of abuse and being told he was a failure by his biological father. Not to mention the man who saved his life, while a good man at heart, kinda has a messed up moral compass of his own, and kinda f**ked up Sanji's head in his own way (seriously, Sanji can't bring himself to hit a woman to save his own life cause he can't bear disappointing/disobeying Zeff, the man who actually loved him like a son? Jeez).

– For real, Sanji's story is a doozy, and Zoro's just doesn't compare (at least not at the moment). Sorry, but clear point goes to SANJI!

Sanji 4/2 Zoro

Gag: Possibly debatable again, but I honestly do prefer (and the fandom majority seem to prefer) Zoro's whole getting lost gag to Sanji being a looney tunes pervert (some of the faces Oda draws, I swear!) I don't mind anime perverts so long as they have some substance to their character, but Oda places ‘Pervert Sanji’ in some situations where you're left screaming, “NOW'S NOT THE TIME DAMMIT!” Some moments can be thrown off kilter by the perverseness and/or fanservice to the point where you're just left face-palming. Arguably, the same can be said for Zoro, especially with his wandering off and getting lost in Wano right before Luffy faced off against Kaido (not that Zoro could do much about that anyway if he hadn't gotten lost), but just how easily he gets lost is so ridiculous that it veers right around from being annoying and returns straight back to being hilarious because of how mind-boggling it is. xD So, point to ZZZZZORO!

Sanji 4/3 Zoro

Development: Once again, another debatable one. Too debatable! There's no way around it; some may say Sanji's ‘self-rediscovery’ arc in Whole Cake Island made him the better developed character (or didn’t develop him at all) and some will say that Zoro's “Nothing happened” moment is the pinnacle of character development in One Piece, and to me, too much of it comes down to preference and I find it hard to justify why one is potentially better developed than the other. Especially when there could still be further development for them to come. So.... yeah, another TIE!

Sanji 5/4 Zoro

So, there it is, I killed some great time in quarantine with this(!) Maybe there’s more ‘categories’ I could have added, but with what I came up with, I really did try not to be bias here. I do think it’s important to have a character that can hit ‘all the beats’, deliver in terms of action scenes, comedy and the emotional hard-hitting moments too. I can’t help but appreciate the male characters who are more in touch with their emotions and show vulnerability, which is what I appreciate with Sanji, and why I probably don’t connect with Zoro as much as I’d like to?

Going through all of this however has made me think that I'm actually fairer than I thought I was. No? Yes? Close call anyway.

#one piece #sanji #zoro #my ramblings #one piece spoilers

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fyrapartnersearch · 4 years

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Rated -ℜ- for Roleplaying

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Come closer if you dare,

 Call me Imp, a multidimensional being who has made it her mission to travel through various dimensions in order to post her humble request on this website. Nah… just kidding, but you may still call me Imp ;) I am a lady in her twenties who has a penchant for roleplaying, writing, and drawing. You know, the Holy Trinity. I am a huge nerd and aesthetic lover boy - plain and simple. One of my main passions is video-games, illustrating, comics, live-action films, series and anime/cartoon shows, something I grew up and eventually fell in love with.   A friend recommended me to post an ad on this website and so I eventually figured, why not give it a shot? It couldn’t be any worse than receiving no messages at all. I’ve been roleplaying for a few years now and gradually gathered a good amount of experience throughout the years, but it's always fun to meet and learn something new. Name: Imp Age: 27 years Experience: 11 years Preferences: 1:1 Roleplaying Partner: Should be at least [18+], but I rather much prefer my counterpart to be 21 years or older EMAIL: [email protected] I am a very creative sort of individual with hundreds of ideas constantly swarming through in my head. And I am very spontaneous too, so I can always adjust to a new setting, depending on how good and compelling the concept is.  Inspirations come from various sources and origins, be it a fandom (an already existing universe) or an original storyline. Please read through these paragraphs before you decide to contact me! It's important to avoid any misunderstanding later! And I would less likely respond to a message with the title ‘Hey, wanna rp?’, since I hadn’t had any good experiences with these said messages. Thank you. °°°·.°·..·°¯°·._.· ☥ ·._.·°¯°·.·° .·°°° °°°·.°·..·°¯°·._.· ☥ ·._.·°¯°·.·° .·°°° Communication: It’s certainly chill. You can talk to me about whatever occupies your mind since I am very open and always happy to listen to others. I also tend to be chatty, sharing a meme every now and to loosen up the mood. If you consider choosing me as your roleplaying partner, be sure to maintain a certain consistency. I have nothing against going on a longer break or even a hiatus, but the whole `ghosting stick´ is something I have no patience for. So if you’re unsure of upholding a stable, long term partnership, feel free to skim past this ad. Plotting: Also very important to note! I am fairly quick when it comes to building new characters, concepts, premises, storylines, backstories, etc… This means there is certain flexibility available which allows me to adjust more often than not. Even though this is a hobby, I am still extremely passionate about good storytelling and interesting character arcs. I hope to meet someone who is just as enthusiastic and willing to put in the same amount of effort as I am. If it’s only me who's pulling all the weight, I will lose interest fast, just to get it out there. Aside from that, I love going a little crazy with the possibilities and push things to their absolute limits. Of course within the boundaries of the given setting. Pairing & Romance: Okay, right off the bat, I am a hopeless romantic through and through. I enjoy good and strong chemistry between characters just as much as the next, and this will be no exception. I prefer the good ol’ MxF pairing because I have more experience with this. But I also like playing a FxF dynamic or MxM. Everyone is welcome! When it comes to pairing itself, I want to make sure our creations are compatible, for I hate forcing characters into a romantic relationship for the sake of progression. A natural flow is what I am aiming for. ;) Mature? Yes, very mature: Adult and taboo topics are absolute. There’s no way around it because, in my stories, it’s a running theme. The adult world is not easy to handle, but it’s interesting to explore. That includes violence, cursing, shocking content, and all that dark stuff. My limits are few, safe for a couple of minor pet peeves that I have, I am pretty much open to some experimentation. When it comes to action-heavy scenes (be it an intimate situation between two characters or something on a cataclysmic scale), I won’t fade to black since I am not a huge fan of censoring. However, I will not force or push my partner into something they are not comfortable with. If you want to know the extent to how far I am willing to go, what sort of content or how detailed my writing will be, you can ask me directly. As for smut or lemons, whatever you call it, it will never be the focus of any of my roleplays, but I enjoy a good erotic scene with a lot of tension (if they are good). Boundaries: Not a big fan of things like pedophilia, necrophilia, scat, bestiality, and those dreaded ‘futas’. Inspirations and interests: There’s a pretty broad spectrum that I deem interesting and inspirational. From fallen angels and demon/monster hunters, mages, criminal masterminds, cybernetically enhanced characters to futuristic dystopian settings, ancient kingdoms who have fallen against the test of time. All of it causes my heart to skip a beat. For original content, I’ll just give a brief list of bullet points of the general themes that fall in line with my interests. Writing: My texts are lengthy, detailed, and elaborate. Third-person is usually my preferred way of playing my character unless there’s a special case where an exception can be made. Word count usually fluctuates, though I have a standard form of 400-500+ words per response. It also highly depends on the given situation. I don’t want to set anything in stone… just to give you a basic idea of what you’re in for. I also expect my partner to have an at least adequate, if not decent grasp on basic grammar and punctuation. Doubling: Yes, absolutely! If you are prone to doubling, chances are I might accept you as my partner straight away! Although I have nothing against the simple form of roleplaying, doubling is something I’ve done since my first time joining. Characters: Very character-driven with the main focus being on interaction. I take my time writing characters and love nothing more than well-structured sheets that illustrate the vision of its creator. Of course, there’s no need to write 10-20 pages worth of character information, but I wouldn’t want to limit you either. As for the depiction of the given character, I won’t be as presumptuous as to tell you what sort of medium you can and cannot use. Face claims such as photos of real models, illustrations, 3D models, drawings or descriptions are all okay. As long as it gets its point across, I am happy. Aversions: A few minor things that irritate me, or let's say, aren’t really my style are one-liners, low effort responses and out of character behaviors in canon characters. We all have different takes on characters, which is totally fine by me since I basically do the same. Though if the character acts and behaves unlike their personality dictates, it will break the immersion. I hope to stay true to my own words when saying this. If it happens on my side, just let me know! Another pet peeve of mine is that one plot that has been done time and time again…. and I’ve grown quite jaded towards it, which is ‘supernaturals trying to fit into human society’ thing… I mean, I’m not opposed to borrowing from this idea, but for me, it grew old pretty fast. Speaking from experience. ;( Passione: My wish is to find a partner whom I can have a good time with and develop some chemistry. After all it is a fun hobby. We both should have fun with what we’re writing. Brainstorming among other things is one of my favorite things to do. To see how things unfold and how the characters react to the given situation is the highlight of any story. °°°·.°·..·°¯°·._.· ☥ ·._.·°¯°·.·° .·°°° °°°·.°·..·°¯°·._.· ☥ ·._.·°¯°·.·° .·°°° FANDOM: I love roleplaying fandoms just as much as I have a blast with building something original universes. Worldbuilding is my preferred cup of tea… but if we opt for something more fandom inspired, I highly welcome in on expanding on the given universe and add some original lore too!

Hellsing: Haven’t done that one before and I am curious as to how things play out, especially in such a dark and mystifying universe like Hellsing. There’s a lot of subject matter that we can delve into, plus I am a big fan of powerful vampire characters!

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: I would love you for this. No, seriously, I would. This fandom has sucked me into a downward spiral and there’s no possible chance of escaping this inescapable void. The absolute insanity of this franchise had me hooked from the second I laid eyes on it and I would be forever ecstatic if you’d message me on behalf of roleplaying Jojo. I have plenty of ideas for this one, just you wait.

Full Metal Alchemist: One of my favorite mangas and animes ever made. Recently I’ve begun rewatching FMA Brotherhood and felt a small hint of nostalgia swelling inside my blackened heart. I’d be open to play it, though it is not one of my top cravings at the moment.

Justice League / Young Justice / Justice League Dark: Huge DC fan, though I much prefer the animations and comics over the live-action cinematic. Let's just say, I like the expansive and dynamic set of possibilities and deep, well-written cast. For instance Hellblazer Constantine or Raven.

Bayonetta: Need I say more? Let’s dance boys!

APH Hetalia: That includes the 2P version ;)

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Supernatural: From angels to demons, from gods to monsters, I’ve seen it all and I absolutely love it. There can be any sort of creature or being involved, ranging from vampires to sirens to elves, you have it. However, I’ve never done something quite relating to angelic beings and their offspring before. I’ve read up on Nephilim and angels and found it rather fascinating, and it’s a different approach from the usual vampire vs werewolf cliche.

Crime and intrigue: I never stray too far from the supernatural path, but hell, there’s nothing better than some good old gritty mafia inspired stories with a complex cast of characters and a solid storyline.

Sci-fi and urban fantasy: So this could be basically anything from genetically engineered superhuman (superheroes / - villains) with a dark take on the human psyche, dismantling the idea of heroism and villainy. Or a world where mankind began their interstellar journey to colonize neighboring planets, galaxies before transcending their own humanity by merging themselves with deadly technology. I have a few plans for this…

Historical and mysterious setting: So one of my favorite eras is the Victorian time period, 30s - 40s - 80s, Renaissance or Ancient times during the rise of the Egyptian / Roman / Sumerian Empire. During these times, a dark discovery was made by man, learning that they were not alone in this world. In fact, they weren’t even the supreme race that destined themselves to dominate the world, for another race of humanoids have lied dormant deep beneath the earth, slumbering through the millennia only to be re-awakened by a cataclysmic event. These ancient humanoids are gods among men, superior in every way imaginable, and they have made it their mission to reclaim their right to rule. But their nature is not what most people think it is…

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 If you’re still here and haven’t fallen asleep reading through my loooong paragraphs, then I would like to thank you for bearing with me this far. I am looking forward to your messages.   Have a wonderful day ;)

#indie rp #indie roleplay #independent roleplay #oc rp #multiple paragraph #para #semipara #long term #email #spn rp #smut rp #dc rp #aou rp #submission

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medea10 · 5 years

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Medea Rambles: Ash’s 1st Meaningful Victory (because nothing else counts according to the internet)

Oh for God’s sake, Medea! Literally, nothing better to talk about!

You just finished four animes today alone and must work on reviews. There’s a whistle-blower causing major havoc at the White House. Your birthday is tomorrow! Why must you poo-poo on Ash’s victory?

Because bitching at things makes me whole. Especially if it’s Pokemon related!

Because after five days of watching the internet lose its fucking mind over Ash winning the Alolan League and glaring at post after post of people bypassing or insulting or simply saying “it doesn’t count” to one of my favorite battles, I feel like ripping a new asshole in several places.

But first, DISCLAIMER!

Be warned, yes this is my own personal opinion on this matter. Some people believe the exact opposite of me and that’s fine. Your opinion is noted and I think you’re trash. Take what I say with a heap of salt. Because I’m definitely in the minority. So here we go!

So on Sunday, September 15th, 2019, our boy Ash Ketchum finally did it. He did what he couldn’t do in the past 22 years. Something we only saw some mystery guy in Kanto, a random fuckboy from Johto, a dude with Meowth in Boots in Hoenn, a troll from Sinnoh, an Eevee-hoarder from Unova, and a dickhead in Kalos accomplish up to this point.

HE. WON. THE POKEMON LEAGUE!

Not since the infamous kiss of Yuri and Viktor from Yuri On Ice or the 19th episode of Demon Slayer or Myne about to be executed in The Rising of the Shield Hero have I seen such a magnitude of people losing their shit about anime. It was so crazy that Ash Ketchum was trending at #1 the entire day, news outlets like BBC and CNN were writing articles about this accomplishment, and yes, special outpouring from fans and relations alike.

Seriously, you all should read Rica Matsumoto’s interview and watch the video Veronica Taylor put out.

But I just can’t help but be bitchy about certain things people keep saying. It’s like a drill to a tooth it’s that annoying. First of all, just because he won a single championship, does not make him a “Pokemon Master”. And secondly, there was a league that Ash won 20 years prior to this victory. It’s called the Orange League.

Yes, I know. I’ve heard it all. “That’s not a real league because it was never in the manga and games. This was just a filler arc to prepare us for Johto so it’s nothing in the eyes of Arceus. The Orange Islands are a distant memory and Alola is doing everything right that your little arc couldn’t do. Screw your cherished memories! The Orange Islands aren’t even mentioned in the latest Pokemon Guidebook. They’re nothing! HARHARHARHAR”

Let me catch my breath before I threaten every fuckface that said any such thing with a punch to the throat.

Just because it wasn’t in the manga or games doesn’t mean it doesn’t count. Since when do you people hold that into account? Ash is absolutely NOT from the Pokemon Adventures manga (other manga, that’s a given) and definitely not a game character. A lot of things exist in the anime that don’t in the manga and games. And that includes characters too! Y’all remember Paul, right?

I seriously don’t get the likability of this guy. I personally find him as pleasant as renal failure. But the fanbase for this little shit is out of this world in the Pokemon fandom. And hey, guess what?! Paul is an anime-exclusive character? So should his fighting with Ash be illegitimate? Fuck no, what idiot would want that?! Right!

Add to that, the Pokemon Leagues have a different setup than they do in the manga and games. I don’t recall having to go through the top-tier system in any of the games to become champion of a region. You fight a bunch of Ace Trainers on Victory Road to level up so you can go up against the Elite Four and then take on the champion. The anime, you fight against other trainers who won the correct amount of badges needed to enter the league and knock each other out in pokemon battles.

I would always imagine that if Ash would win a championship from one of these leagues, that he would then go on to fight against the Elite Four and then Champion. But silly me for thinking such a thing could ever happen. That would have been so awesome to see in Sinnoh or Kalos! But I digress. Many things are different from the anime. Those stupid Princess (fuck I can’t remember what they’re called) that Serena was in weren’t in any other form. But people still worship the little princess and her stupid shenanigans like it’s going out of style.

In short, Orange Islands should not be written off just because it was never part of the manga or games!

Now onto those who say that because it’s from a filler arc this victory should not count as well. Or saying that because it’s different, it’s an illegitimate league and it doesn’t count. Who the fuck are you to say that? Was there a lost episode where some old crone comes and says the Orange League doesn’t count? NO. THERE WAS NOT. Now, I can’t recall if the creators/writers themselves have said anything on the matter. But until I see that, I’m just going to say this simple thing.

The word, “LEAGUE” is in the fucking title. Ash fought in the Orange LEAGUE and fucking won. Ash won a LEAGUE in 1999. There.

Now I admit, the Orange Island gyms were very different in terms of pokemon battles and even the league as well when compared to every other league up to this point. Some were a little hit-and-miss in the pay-off, but some were absolutely epic. Again, the Orange Islands gave us things you miscreants take for granted including region variant pokemon and double battles. That’s right, first official double battle was in the Orange Islands. Suck it!

But I think it’s because for the Orange League, it was only a two-episode saga and Ash was only battling one guy. Hey, don’t write that off! In case you hadn’t realized, that was also Ash’s very first six-on-six battle. And he fought against a champion who has a Dragonite with a total of 10 moves. So imagine all three Dragonites Lance uses in the Gold/Silver games and combine that into one Dragonite. The fact that Ash was able to win this particular battle astounds me to this day. I mean, if it was his Sinnoh or Kalos team, fuck yeah. But this was his early years with pre-evolved pokemon like Pikachu, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle.

Then again, Ash’s Alolan team wasn’t any better. I don’t think I should bring up that travesty you call a battle against Hau, do you? No. Let’s not!

Another overlooked victory of Ash’s was when Ash obtained all seven symbols from the Battle Frontier. Yeah, I can understand that since this was sort of filler between Hoenn and Sinnoh and there wasn’t an actual league. But can you all fully admit that you were able to defeat all of the Battle Frontier Brains in Pokemon Emerald? WITHOUT CHEATING OR USING A GAME SHARK?! Yes, Ash did that. And yes, he had to do several rematches when it came to battles against Anabel and Brandon, but he still managed to take down everyone. Yes, even Brandon with his legendary Regi-trio! Just because this was not an actual championship, doesn’t make it any less. He was offered a chance to become a Frontier Brain, but declined to do more traveling.

What I want to say is that the Orange League and the Battle Frontier shouldn’t be thrown in the trash just because they’re “different” from the status-quo pokemon league.

And as for Ash winning the league, I’m glad he finally won after such a long time. I mean, even if you did count the Orange League or Battle Frontier, it’s been a long time. I just really feel conflicted because it was THIS league that he won. Not the league where he and his Infernape proved to their rival that they are not pathetic. Not the league where he masters synchronization. This one.

The saga where he looks like Luffy’s idiot cousin. The saga where he doesn’t even have a full team. And to even come from the same league where he almost loses the whole match for putting all his faith in an insomniac birdo.

Fine, if I just ignore that match and pretend it never happened, Ash’s league matches were really good. He was able to take out the undefeatable Guzma and kicked Faba’s ass one more time just for good measure. And even though the finale was just a measly three-on-three (yeah, I’m a snob like that), Ash vs. Gladion was downright epic. Especially Lycanroc vs. Lycanroc. Give credit where credit is due.

I just ask you do the same for other victories.

BTW, Ash vs. Paul is still the best league battle. I’m just saying.

This has been Medea...and time to watch my yearly odometer roll over.

#pokemon #Ash Ketchum #alola #sinnoh #orange islands

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kenkamishiro · 5 years

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Ishida’s Q&A comments from YJ compilation, Part 9

Ishida’s comments from 2017! Only one more part left to go which will cover the 30-something questions from 2018.

For anyone who doesn’t know about the relevant Questions to Ishida contest, please read here. You can start from Part 1 here.

The recent set of zakki:re and interview translations take a lot of time and effort, so if you enjoyed it please reblog or leave a like. Thank you!

2017

No. 1

Sensei, if you had to pick a character from a manga/anime/novel to become the president, who would it be?

Mozgus-sama.

Just stop.

[T/N: One of the antagonists of Berserk...]

No. 2

The winners of the New Word/Buzzword awards have been announced for 2016, but in your opinion what new word or buzzword should have won for this year?

「～てわけだし」。

I wonder why.

[T/N: The phrase 「～てわけだし」is difficult to translate on its own since it’s more of an implied feeling, but basically it’s used when you’re stating a conclusion based on reasons that were given in the conversation.]

No. 3-4

It’s that time of year when hot pot is at its most deliciousness! What is your favourite kind of hot pot or hot pot ingredient?

Motsunabe.

Wasn’t there a question just like this before?

[T/N: Yes, yes it was. (In 2013, Issue no. 49.)]

No. 5-6

2016 was also a year where all kinds of events shook the world. Now then Sensei, please tell us about your biggest event of this year!

That I got the opportunity to meet Togashi Yoshihiro-sensei.

It was amazing...

No. 7

The first issue of Young Jump for 2017!! Sensei, what words do you want to write for your wishes for the New Year?

To be on time.

Do your best.

No. 8

Sensei, please tell us what you want to challenge yourself to do this year!

To become an apprentice.

That’s a good one.

No. 9

January 26 is Mobile Apps Day! Please share with us your favourite app or an app that you feel has been useful recently!

Voice recorder.

Apps with shogi problems. It’s perfect for when I have free time.

No. 10

February 2 is Pigtails Day! Please share with us a hairstyle of the opposite sex that makes you feel things!

Short cuts.

Indeed.

No. 11

February 9 is Manga Day! What was the first manga that you read or bought?

I forget what my first one was, but my most recent was volume 45 of Kingdom.

It was probably something like Crayon Shin-chan I think? Most likely...

No. 12

Sensei, please tell us about a sports match that has moved or excited you to this day?

Rocky vs. Mason Dixon.

I haven’t really seen much, huh.

No. 13

Sensei, what item makes you feel “I haven’t seen this lately/it’s gone now, what a shame?”

That crunchy salad thing from Family Mart, the Mexican something-or-other.

I’ll say it again.

No. 14

This may seem out of the blue, but please tell us about a memory that’s related to your birthday!

Thank you for last year.

I received a lot.

No. 15

Sensei, please share with us what you usually eat or do for your health!

Nuts.

I’ve been running recently. Last month I clocked in 100 km.

No. 16

Sensei, please share with us a time where you felt full of energy or gained courage to this day!

I was so scared of Biohazard in VR that I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my body.

I haven’t been playing any VR games recently.

No. 17

Sensei, please tell us about a local rule that surprised you, or any unusual rule that was considered as normal in your local area!

Libatape.

It’s a bandage.

No. 18

Sensei, please share with us what you’re secretly obsessed about!

88Kasyo Junrei and Ziyoou-vachi.

Ohh.

No. 19

Sensei, please tell us what you’d like to eat right now!

Corned beef.

I wonder if I was craving junk food at the time.

No. 20

Sensei, please tell us about a moment where you felt like spring was coming!

I don’t really feel it. Though it does feel like summer.

What’s with that force.

No. 21

If you could send a letter to a person again, who would that person be and what would you like to tell them?

A friend from a long time ago, since I moved around a lot.

I’d tell the friend that I’ve become a mangaka.

No. 22-23

We’re at the cusp of Golden Week! Sensei, please share with us where you’d like to go, or something you’d like to do!

Read.

Just get out of the house already.

No. 24

Sensei, please share with us a technique you thought was amazing or moved you!

I saw it recently, but Terada Katsuya’s live paintings.

Man it was amazing.

No. 25

If you could choose any one special ability or superpower, what ability would you want to use?

The ability to fix my back.

The ability to be motivated at any time.

No. 26

Sensei, what book do you want to read the most/want to know the contents of right now?

I want to read all kinds of books.

I’m currently interested in Russia/Soviet relations.

No. 27

Sensei, please tell us about the scariest story you’ve heard or experienced in your life!

Missiles.

When I was drawing the manuscript for the final chapter that everyone associated with it was waiting for. My heart was pounding like crazy.

No. 28

Sensei, please tell us about something you’re particular about in your home/room, or something you’d like to be particular about if you moved!

Delivery boxes.

Where there are delivery boxes, no bugs crawl out...

No. 29

Sensei, please tell us about a movie or drama that you thought was interesting/would be interesting!

“Documental” was interesting.

“One Cut of the Dead” was interesting too.

No. 30

If you could know just one thing from the future, what would it be?

I wouldn’t want to know anything.

Whether manga still exists or not.

No. 31

Sensei, please tell us what your favourite appetizer is!

Nuts.

Raisin butter.

No. 32

Sensei, please share with us a day that only you celebrate, or a day that is special only to you!

Since the day my series first began is in September, I consider that to be a day for celebration.

I’m sure I’ll forget it.

No. 33

When you think of summer, you think of festivals! What comes to mind when you hear the world “festival”?

Live performances.

Fireworks, food stalls.

No. 34

How would you describe your personality in a single word?

Uncoordinated (To everyone involved, I apologize for causing trouble last week).

What happened...

No. 35

Sensei, please share with us a dinner meal that gets you excited the most!

I don’t get excited over meals.

I do now!

No. 36-37

Sensei, please tell us what you’re glad to have done as a child!

Play Dragon Quest.

Study. Not for the contents necessarily, but more so cultivating my ability to concentrate. Well, that and Dragon Quest too.

No. 38

Sensei, please share with us the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning!

Sleep.

Huh?

No. 39

Please share with us something about Japanese traditional culture or events that you like!

Sweet mochi cakes.

I think it’s wonderful that we have events for each season. Though I don’t take part in them.

No. 40

August 31 is Vegetable Day! Sensei, please share with us what vegetables you like!

Orange paprika.

Celery, paprika, tomatoes.

No. 41

If there was a moment in your life where you thought, “I’m saved!”, please tell us!

I did have one.

I’ve only ever been helped.

No. 42

It’s September but the blazing hot days aren’t over just yet! Sensei, please share with us your steps to combat the summer heat!

Pray.

You didn’t even do anything for the heat did you.

No. 43

Sensei, please share with us something that you thought you wanted to throw away, or wanted to throw away but couldn’t!

My chair.

Stuff like packages or stuffed toys that the staff left behind.

No. 44

Sensei, please tell us about a moment in your everyday life where you get a bit excited/feel a bit of small joy!

When I manage to wake up early.

I know the feel.

No. 45

Please tell us who you thought was the most beautiful woman you’ve seen in your life (can be a real person, or a character from a manga/drama/novel)!

Andrea Pezick.

It’s hard to say who the most beautiful is.

No. 46

October 13 is Moving Day! If you were to move, what town would you want to live in (can be real or fictional)?

Kansai.

Kanto or America or Taiwan.

No. 47

Sensei, please tell us about a moment in your life where you noticed a discrepancy and realized it was different from what you expected!

Turkish rice.

Robot Restaurant.

[T/N: Ishida went to Robot Restaurant last fall with some friends.]

No. 48

Sensei, if there’s a character that you want to make a guest appearance in your own work, please tell us (even real people are acceptable!)

Me.

Don’t need me there.

No. 49

Sensei, please share with us what you do when you can’t fall asleep at night!

I fall asleep right away, so please tell me what to do instead.

Please rest assured that my sleep schedule returned to normal after TG ended.

No. 50

Sensei, if you’ve had a moment where you wanted to keep experiencing the same thing in your memories, please tell us!

I want to erase my memories and play Bloodborne again.

I don’t want to repeat it again.

No. 51

It’s harvesting season! Sensei, please share with us what you thought the best harvest of the year was, or something that was significant to you for this year!

Live performances.

Recently I’ve been doing stuff like practicing drawing and studying. I’m not sure if you’d call it harvesting or planting seeds though.

No. 52

It seems November 22 is Carpenter Day. Sensei, if you have a memory of the house you’ve lived in to this day, please tell us!

Centipedes showed up a lot in my dormitory.

Whenever they got inside the soap box they would cluster together.

No. 53

This is the final issue of 2017! Sensei, please share with us what you want to eat as your last dinner of 2017!

I’d be fine with soba.

That way of speaking is an affront to soba.

previous || next (coming soon!)

#Tokyo Ghoul #zakki:re #Ishida Sui #Ishida Q&A #Translations #my translations #lots of gold in this set of Q&As #that second to last one though #this is how you get trust issues of dark enclosed spaces #i would've torched the entire place

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murasaki-murasame · 5 years

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Thoughts on Sarazanmai Episode 5: “I Want To Connect, But I Can’t Be Forgiven”

I’m just gonna go and open a window and casually scream into the abyss because this show is already destroying me and we’re only :) five episodes in :)))

We’re already rapidly approaching the part where the established episodic patterns start getting broken, and oh boy I can only imagine how the rest of the show will go from here.

Anyway, thoughts under the cut.

Oh boy where to even begin with this one. There’s already so much happening and we’re not even halfway into the story, lol. Part of me’s still slightly worried that we haven’t really gotten into anything related to Sara, Reo and Mabu, or the apparent otter-kappa conflict going on in the background, but this episode does make it more clear that those parts will get more important soon enough. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if the next episode mostly wraps things up with Kazuki, and the second half of the anime is focused more on Reo and Mabu.

But anyway, on the topic of Kazuki, there’s a whole lot to say about him after this. I ended up being mostly right in my guess that he was adopted and that Haruka’s disability was caused by an accident that Kazuki feels responsible for, but it was still interesting to see how it all played out. I think one of the things that surprised me most is how, in spite of everything we learned, it still feels like there’s a lot going on with the topic of Kazuki’s birth mother that we don’t really understand yet, and there’s the whole lingering question of why Haruka apparently had her scent pouch. So I think there’s some further reveals to be had there. I was kinda confused about how casual Kazuki’s birth mother seemed to be about reuniting with him, since that’s not really how you’d expect it to go, especially since it also didn’t seem like she was looking to bring him back into her family. It made it come across like she was kinda oblivious to how much turmoil the adoption situation had put Kazuki in, but I want to wait until we learn more before I try and judge her.

I reread the last few chapters of the ReoMabu prequel manga recently, and it’s gotten me wondering if there’s a deeper connection between Kazuki and Sara than what we’ve seen thus far. At the very least, it feels like too much of a core, recurring part of the story for it to not have some deeper meaning to it, though most of all I just think it’d be a bit lame if there’s nothing more going on there.

Specifically, I was wondering if maybe the ending of the ReoMabu manga was about Sara transforming into her teenage self and leaving her dads, but deciding to leave a clone or a sibling of herself behind for them to raise in her absence, and I was wondering if maybe that hypothetical other baby could somehow be Kazuki himself. I don’t really feel confident in that theory after this episode, at least not after how we outright saw Kazuki’s birth mother, but I still feel like there’s something going on with how the ReoMabu manga ends on the confusing note of Sara leaving but them seemingly still having baby!Sara with them, and there’s also the fact that Sara’s connection to those two has yet to come up in the anime, but it doesn’t look like they’re still raising her.

The whole reason why Kazuki has even been doing this whole cross-dressing ruse in the first place still feels kinda mysterious and confusing after this episode, but I think the simplest explanation just based on what happens in this episode is that Kazuki has a lot of self-loathing about his “fake” connection to Haruka, and the whole situation with Haruka’s accident, so he probably doesn’t feel able to connect with Haruka ‘as himself’, and so he latched onto whatever alternate persona he could find instead. I still feel like it’s deeper than that, but I dunno.

One thing that stuck out to me in the flashbacks was the part where Kazuki and Haruka talked about how Kazuki has been ‘dressing differently’, and how Kazuki ‘doesn’t want to look like his family’. Which makes me think that Kazuki developed a habit of cross-dressing sometime after learning about his family situation, before the whole Sara thing began. And if that’s the case, then I think there’s probably more to the idea of Kazuki cross-dressing than just Sara being a convenient persona for him to adopt to connect with Haruka indirectly. But it’s kinda hard to piece together the logic of it if Haruka did get into regular cross-dressing if it was to ‘not look like his family’. I mean, unless we assume that he actually is trans. If it wasn’t for the whole Sara thing I’d assume that it was just about him, like, getting piercings and stuff to try and assert his individuality, but I don’t think it’s that.

I’m curious to see more of Haruka’s side of things, since I think there’s more going on with him than what we’ve seen, going by stuff like the mystery of why he has Kazuki’s mother’s scent pouch. I think that he must know something about Kazuki and his birth mother, since the entire reason for his accident seemed to be that he was afraid that Kazuki was going to abandon him. Which makes me think that Haruka knew that Kazuki was meeting with his birth mother, and he assumed that it meant Kazuki wanted to go back to his real family and leave him behind. So I wonder how Haruka might have known about that, since Kazuki apparently kept his meeting with his mother a secret.

I also get the feeling that, even though on some level he’s probably hurt for obvious reasons now that Kazuki’s whole secret has been revealed, he probably cares more about being able to connect with Kazuki. I think that if they were able to talk things out, Haruka would just be happy about being able to properly connect with his brother, without the whole Sara thing.

And on the topic of Sara, we got to see her in the flesh in this episode, and it certainly looks like she’s some kind of a kappa that has a human form it transforms into. Which I think was fairly obvious by this point, but it was nice to see it laid out explicitly. It’s also worth noting that it also means that she is indeed a real person who is separate to Kazuki. After the narrative misdirection in episode 1, I was wondering if maybe there’d be some larger twist about Kazuki literally being Sara, somehow, but they seem to be pretty distinctly separate people.

Since we’re nearing the halfway point, this seems to be where the patterns are breaking and things are coming to a head, which is happening on a few different fronts. For one thing, Kazuki’s big secret has finally been laid bare for everyone to see, so we’re gonna have to see how that whole mess pans out now. This is also the first time that they’ve failed to defeat a kappa zombie, so now they’re gonna be stuck in their kappa forms until they actually beat this one. Which might be difficult, since Kazuki seems willing to just live as a kappa forever now. Last week, Reo and Mabu said that they’d try and raise the desire power of their next victim, but I get the feeling that the main trio ‘losing’ wasn’t because the kappa zombie was tougher than usual, but more because Kazuki was so viscerally unwilling to acknowledge whatever truth was being made apparent by his secret leak that the entire process forcibly stopped. Which seems to be about the mystery of why Haruka had Kazuki’s mother’s scent pouch. It looks like Kazuki probably has an idea of what it means, but it’s somehow so extreme and shocking that he refuses to look at it.

Considering how it looks like Kazuki is going to have to come face to face with his current situation in order for them to beat the kappa zombie and return to normal, I think a lot of this will probably get answered and resolved in the next episode, so I’m really curious to see how it turns out. And after that, it looks like Reo and Mabu are gonna be more important in the second half.

And on the note of those two, we got another post-credit stinger scene that was about them this time. I think I’ve basically already been spoiled on this from stuff I’ve seen on twitter that I guess was from people who’ve read the first light novel volume, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise to me, but it was still a good scene. My understanding of the situation is that Mabu is maybe possibly dead, but his body is being kept alive by some outside force, and thus he has a mechanical heart, and he apparently needs to be ‘maintained’ regularly. It also looks like his situation has also lead to him becoming emotionally dead, which you can really see when you read the prequel manga about them, in which Mabu was a huge dork who was very emotionally expressive. Which really makes their whole current situation even more tragic.

I was reading a translation of a recent magazine interview where Ikuhara said that these two have a ‘completed relationship’ that has begun to fracture, which gets to the heart of why I think they’re such a surprisingly interesting duo. It just seems very rare for Ikuhara to write about characters that have regular, healthy, adult relationships like this, especially not ones between gay men. So it’s interesting to see him writing about how a pre-existing relationship can be warped by time and circumstances.

We’ll see how it goes, but it looks like Mabu’s ‘maintenance’ might involve him pretty much going out and sleeping with random people, which on the one hand seems kinda odd, but on the other hand we’ve already heard about the idea of ‘desire energy’, so maybe casual sex is literally the fuel source for Mabu’s mechanical heart. And if that’s the case, there’s a whooooole lot of interesting subtext going on there, especially when you think about the ‘desire/love’ conflict that’s been set up. I’ve also been wondering if this series would end up exploring monogamy vs polygamy via the conflict between them and the main trio, and so it’d make sense if their own relationship is currently in conflict because of the struggle between casual sex and faithful monogamy. I get the feeling that Reo wants to have him and Mabu stay strictly faithful to each other, but he also might not want to force himself to regularly have sex with him just as a fuel source for Mabu’s heart, since that would be all kinda of messed up, and it’d probably make Reo feel insecure about the validity of their relationship. And so Mabu has to find other people to have sex with, and because he seems emotionally dead now, he doesn’t understand Reo’s concerns. Reo’s mocking line about how Mabu ‘is just seeking pleasure’ also seems to play into the whole desire/love conflict.

I’m really curious to see where things go with these two. I have a feeling that Reo might end up allied with the main characters, given that it seems like he’s only working for the otter empire because he needs to.

I still wonder if they’ll show off their backstory in the anime, especially with them having raised Sara, but we’ll see how it goes.

#murasaki rambles #sarazanmai #this got pretty long but there's a lot to say about this episode lol

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chibivesicle · 5 years

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Is Asirpa’s character trying to be too many things for GK readers?

As I have been reading GK and having a great dialogue with many other people about the series, I have had a few ideas stewing in the back of my mind. When I first started watching the anime, Asirpa was really my fav character b/c she was interesting and seemed to go against a lot of bad tropes that could be applied to her. I like strong and independent female characters, so I was glad to read about her. I started reading the manga and I really liked her character and began to have mixed feelings about how the anime had decided to depict her. I have already written about how I was disappointed in the second season of the anime here: https://chibivesicle.tumblr.com/post/181363749182/do-you-like-golden-kamuy-anime

I’ve been putting a lot of thought into how I’ve wanted to construct this argument. I’ve decided to tackle this by examining different aspects of Asirpa.

1.) Asirpa as a representative of the Hokkaido Ainu

When Asirpa is first introduced as a character in the manga, we have Sugimoto looking up at her as he thinks “An Ainu!” when they fight the bear that had not gone into hibernation and was a fallen kaumy.

She then takes him to her kotan and introduces him to her Huci, uncle Makanakkuru and her cousin Osoma. At the beginning of the manga, Asirpa is the readers guide to all things Ainu. She explains things like how her father made her menomakkiri for her. The concept of these personalized knives will come back in regards to Kironranke’s makkiri as “evidence”.

I obviously can’t speak for all other readers of the series but I perceive Asirpa’s character to be the guide to all things Ainu at the beginning of the manga. This likely was due to the fact that her character is Ainu and before the series was stable enough to not worry about being cut. Keep in mind that reader reviews and polls do make or break a manga series. I don’t think Noda was going for tons of other characters (Japanese or Ainu) at beginning to not overwhelm people.

She explains natural and weather events as well as hunting skills to Sugimoto (who really would have died many times over). For example the sudden temperature change with a drop of 30 degrees C here:

Explaining tureunpe for Sugimoto here with her Huci.

I really don’t want to dwell on this first point a whole lot. I think it is pretty clear that Asirpa is the reader’s introduction to the Hokkaido Ainu and she explains things to Sugimoto (and in turn to the reader).

What Asirpa’s character does not do, is explain racism or forced cultural assimilation. The random man from the whore house tries to threaten her by selling her into prostitution here, pointing out that she doesn’t have a tattoo yet (which were already banned by the Meiji government). Thankfully, since she is a strong female character she is able to defend herself and even gets extra comments from the girls stating that she showed the man who is the boss at that moment.

When Sugimoto and Asirpa catch Shiraishi with their modified squirrel traps, Shiraishi refuses to talk as Sugimoto questions him. This then leads Shiraishi to make the common racist remark that Asripa is a “pet” of Sugimoto’s likely in reference to the comment by Japanese that the Ainu were dogs (Ainu sounding similar to Inu (dog)).

Sugimoto is quick to attack Shiraishi’s racist remark as he physically threatens to break Shiraishi’s jaw but Asirpa simply states the following:

But other than these two early instances in the manga - most of the depictions of the Ainu are in the context that they are just doing Ainu things in the background. They live in their kotans and they are still hunting and fishing as they always have. This is clearly misleading since many of their practices were already being attacked by the government including the arrow traps but likely depending on locations this was difficult to enforce. Various info boxes in the manga report historical records of certain cultural practices still happening much past the time period when the government had already banned them.

To make a manga that would appeal to a wide audience one would have to walk a fine line of being historically accurate in regards to the terrible suffering faced by Asirpa and her community at that time and not making that the major aspect of the manga. The story is supposed to be about their quest for the gold not generations of cultural genocide. I don’t want to just ignore the historical injustices but at the same time the author is writing a story for a major reader base who likely don’t their own history in this area so . . . . yeah. I can’t tell how much of this is a result of the cultural context that the manga exists in where Japanese would not be a blunt about this topic even if many of us readers would want it to be much more upfront about these issues.

2.) Asirpa as a Leader

Throughout the manga, there are characters who have different skills and roles as leaders. In previous posts, I have used the terms large L, Leader vs small l leader. This has been my person way to distinguish between characters who have the ability to lead small groups of people vs those who have grand ideas or the gift to really inspire and lead many people for a cause that is far greater than they are.

The big L leaders that are adults in the series to date are:

Wilk/Noppera-bo/Asirpa’s father - he was a Russian Partisan, the child of a Polish political prisoner and a Sakhalin/Karafuto Ainu. His goal was to create a confederation of the different cultural groups in the Northern Far East to fight colonialism and imperialism.

Tsurumi/Hasegawa - former Japanese spy operating in Russia, turned military commander. de facto commander of the 27th. He wants to make Hokkaido an independent military state, that he is the dictator of as well as to manufacturer arms and medical supplies for WWI. He is a very charismatic leader and acts as a second father to many of the “lost” members of the 27th.

Hijikata - the not actually dead, former Vice commander of the Shinsengumi. Looking for a battle to truly fight and die in? Does he also want to establish another longer lasting Republic of Ezo? Will he take the concerns of all of the people on the island into consideration or was his relationship a marriage of convenience between him and Wilk in prison. Yet he can inspire men to follow him to death with little effort and is clearly charismatic as a leader.

Sofia - Wilk and Kiroranke’s partisan leader. Mastermind of the the assassination of the Tsar in 1881. Respected leader of Russian revolutionaries. Likely still looking to overturn the Tsarist government. Perhaps, she will shift her focus to Hokkaido now . . . .

The small l leaders that are adults in the series to date are:

Ogata - tactically astute and observant sniper formerly of the 27th and traitor to Tsurumi. Works well in tricky combat situations; e.g. Nikaido as his spotter, sniping and directing yakuza in Barato, defending against the 27th in Yubari, aiding Sugimoto against Koito, saving everyone on the mountain pass, rescuing Tanigaki in the swamp, shot out at the onsen etc. Sadly, no one takes him seriously even though he as been a good team member.

Tsukishima - the “mom” of the 27th. Tsurumi’s right hand man from Niigata, does some of his dirtiest deeds, and current leader of the small expedition team to Sakhalin/Karafuto. Tsukishima is intelligent and hardworking and knows some of his men well, for example Koito, so he was able to find underhanded ways to motivate him (those bromides of Tsurumi) but at times really struggled how to command and as a result control both Sugimoto and Tanigaki on Sakhalin.

Yulbars/Kiroranke - the only Ainu male character who was referred to as Kiroranke Nispa by Asirpa. He planned the stealing away of Asirpa at Abashiri with his cat partner in crime, Ogata. He leads the journey to Karafuto/Sakhalin with Asirpa, Shiraishi and Ogata so that Asirpa can remember the key to the gold as he educates her about her father’s past and also introduces her to Sofia. His background and skill in explosives as well as having the goal to free Sofia shows some leadership skills but made both Shiraishi and Ogata uncomfortable and ultimately neither of them trusted him but Shiraishi still cared about him as a friend.

Between these two groups of leaders, Asirpa clearly falls into the first, the big L Leader group. She throughout the story thus far has mediated and shaped the various teams and groups that she has been a part of. She respects most of the characters (she does care about Shiraishi but I worry about her copying Sugimoto’s bullying of him). With all of the Japanese male characters, she does not refer to them as Sugimoto-san or Shiraishi-san etc, she just calls them by their last names which says a lot about her personality. Only Kiroranke was spoken to with respect keeping the Nispa title, which is in part likely to the fact that Kiro was Wilk’s best friend and almost an uncle to her.

Asirpa was able to get anti-social characters like Ogata to participate in her “team building” activities and she always praised him when he assisted in hunting related things. Even if most of the other characters either stayed away from Ogata or fought with him (Sugimoto) she always treated him fairly.

I think her best example of persuasive leadership to date was with her ordering Ogata to protect Tanigaki in the swamp. Now other people will argue that Ogata didn’t do this b/c Asirpa told him to and instead will read it as an Ogata-Sugimoto conversation. But I will always see this as an order coming from Asirpa. Why? Asirpa is the one who orders Ogata to protect Tanigaki.

Ogata is in a very powerful position, he’s atop the grain silo, he’s in a very relaxed position with his body language, and he’s got his rifle at ready. Everything about this shows that Ogata is the one in the safe position. Yet, Asirpa is the one who says this. Sugimoto wouldn’t think to ask Ogata to protect Tanigaki, later even when they are looking for Anehata in the swamp, Sugimoto tells Asirpa never to order someone like Ogata to save him in a similar situation since he doesn’t trust he would nor does he think he would do it. Ogata retorts back that he needs a reason to protect him and he correctly states that Tanigaki is following them on Tsurumi’s orders.

Sugimoto fills in part of the background that Tanigaki did not kill Tamai and co as Ogata has concluded and that they were killed by a bear (set into motion by Sugimoto’s actions). I find Sugimoto’s lines to Ogata to be self-projection. At this point, Ogata has not willingly ate brains so Sugimoto thinking of an Asirpa punishment that he would not want to have but Ogata is likely not swayed by this. He later does eat reindeer brains and nods that they indeed taste like Yuk with Asirpa on Karafuto/Sakhalin.

Instead, there is a panel of a very firm looking Asirpa, she’s got a sweat drop but the entire time you can see that she’s kept eye contact with him. She also explained that Tanigaki just wanted to go back to the Matagi and was healed by his time with her Huci. Ogata does a major cat stare down at Asirpa, but he does state that his options are limited. Asirpa only breaks eye contact with Ogata after she follows his gaze to the group of Ainu men who are certain Tanigaki is the culprit, and she realizes that they need to hurry to save them.

Yet, despite his stand off with her, he ultimately saves Tanigaki just as she had requested and did not harm anyone in the process and even sacrificed his cloak and his rifle case with his decoy. That is saying a lot for a man who hides himself in the cloak and was likely already thinking about where he will get another case to cover the rifle. . .

The key point is that Asirpa was able to convince Ogata to do something and she didn’t need to manipulate him or bait him with something. He followed her orders. Flashbacks seem to indicate that Tsurumi was in part likely ordering Ogata to perform certain actions but with a reward attached, Asirpa’s lack of manipulation was likely a factor that convinced him to follow her request.

3.) Asirpa as an innocent

The cast of GK is full of grown men who are broken to varying degrees and dealing with the impact of PTSD in the first major event of what we would now call modern warfare. Sugimoto survived by fighting with a level of brutality that made him seem like a demon. Tanigaki ran away from home in a quest for revenge and as a tondouhei in the 7th fought in the war. Ogata is a man who was damaged from his very birth and somehow ended up in the 7th (we still need to know his reason for enlisting or if he was drafted). Kiroranke passed himself off as an Ainu volunteer but once his Partisan past is revealed, it shows he’s been though countless traumatic events. Tsukishima had a similar background to Ogata with a broken home and was on death row after the Sino-Japanese war. Hijikata is a ghost of the former shougante and missed his chance to die at Hakodate. All of these men have killed others and none are dealing with ways to heal, instead they’ve all thrown themselves in the hunt for the gold since many of them are good at killing. Recent events revealed that Kiro truly was attempting to acquire the gold for the future of the native peoples. However, Sugimoto is doing this for the money (and the woman he loves), Tanigaki is doing it to run away from facing his problems and revenge, Tsukishima is doing this b/c he feels likely trapped by Tsurumi, and Ogata, well, his still unclear motives changed on the the ice but a part of him likely figured he’d be good at this b/c he thinks he’d be good at it since Ogata thinks he is broken.

The entire time, Asirpa has been traveling around Hokkaido with these men who have killed and will kill again while she has kept her vow to not kill anyone in the process. Again, I’ve already pointed out that Asirpa has occasionally drawn her bow at other humans in the story making her walk a fine line. This finally comes to ahead when she accidentally shoots Ogata in the right eye. She is “saved” by Sugimoto’s quick thinking even though his scream is the event that startles her and causes her to shoot him in the first place. . . .

Sugimoto wants to keep Asirpa’s innocence in the whole situation but the longer this quest goes, the more and more chances she will have to either violate her “no kill” policy. The entire concept is hypocritical and likely we as readers are supposed to wonder how she maintains her own personal values in such a dangerous game.

There are other innocent characters in the series; Shiraishi, Inkarmat, Cikapasi, Enonoka and Ryu I guess. I mean Ryu is a dog so it is hard for him to do evil human deeds. Shiraishi, while not a morally upstanding member of society, is one of more innocent adults, he has not harmed another person and he has become loyal and dependable. Inkarmat also has not killed anyone (as far as we know) and instead thought she was acting with the best intentions for Asirpa and Wilk; but she is a trickster so her methods are similar to Shiraishi. Cikapasi is younger than Asirpa and is being forced to take care of himself and others. His encounter with Enonoka has been positive for him, he’s seen a more mature peer and she’s gently getting him to become more responsible for his own fate. I think the character growth for all of the above is that they have much easier tasks to achieve; learn to help and care for others, let go of the past and how to become more responsible.

What is different between these innocent characters and Asirpa is that no one is as driven to uphold their moral code as she is. Asirpa wants to understand who her father was, why he entrusted the gold to her, and what she will do with the “power” derived from it. Asirpa doesn’t just have to uphold her personal values, she has to do it in the context of a quest where her father designed it so that you would have to murder and skin a man to get the answer you are looking for.

Asirpa’s innocence also puts her relationships with other characters in an unequal balance. Ogata wanted to release her from the stress of being the key to the gold, Sugimoto is lying to her to protect her from the very same thing. These characters are seeing the need to protect her innocence as a reason to not be honest and straightforward with her.

4.) Asirpa as mixed race

So Asirpa is first introduced as a Hokkaido Ainu character. But very quickly it is revealed that her parents are both dead and that she has a unique appearance, where she has blue eyes - like her father. When Sugimoto first meets Hijikata, he makes a comment about how she must have some Russian blood in her background. Slowly it unfolds that Hijakata knew that Noppera-bou was not a Hokkaido Ainu, revealing to Nagakura, Ushiyama, Ienaga and Ogata that he is a Partisan fighting against the Russian government and that he likely has other comrades that are hiding among the Hokkaido Ainu [Kiroranke].

Her eye color is frequently referred to - when she first meets Inkarmat, she mentions that her eyes are just like her father’s.

All of this is linking Asirpa to her father and how her eyes are a direct physical trait to him and how she is to inherit his legacy. In chapter 73, Asirpa has her dream about her time with her father and he speaks of how she is mixed race and that this is beautiful and important. Interestingly, he refers to his blood as being different (as a Polish-Karafuto Ainu) with that of her mother a Hokkaido Ainu. The mixing of these different people resulted in her and that she will be a new woman for the future and she will lead the Ainu b/c of the strength that she has from this combination.

This is the first half of the flashback that she will finally remember as they are attempting to reach Russia with Kiroranke, Sofia, Shiraishi and Ogata. What is most important though is that Wilk is a person who saw strength through diversity and that this would be the best way to save their people from the imperial and colonial powers and the death of their cultures and absorption into these empires as minorities lacking the rights of the ruling majority.

Wilk’s link to Russia is very subtly mentioned here as Sugimoto, Shiraishi and Ogata are crossing over the Daisetsuzan mountain range. Asirpa sets up a small rodent trap and explains that it is used by a small indigenous group in Russia uses to catch squirrels.

Asirpa is a Hokkaido Ainu, there is no way she would have learned about a trapping method used by a native group in Russia from her community. Only one person would have taught her that and from the very beginning of the manga we’ve known that she was taught by her father. I wonder if this is a reference to Kiro being a Tatar who grew up on the Amur river or another group as well. . . .

All of these events are subtle clues to Wilk’s backstory and what he was hoping to achieve for the native peoples of the region.

Besides Wilk being a mixed race character, Kiroranke is another main character who is mixed race as well. When he is trying to convince Inkarmat that they are on the same “side” he states that his son are Hokkaido Ainu and therefore their causes are the same. Only much later does he explain his background as a Tatar on the Amur River with Karafuto Ainu heritage as well.

As Kiro reveals more about Wilk’s past for Asirpa, the revolutionary trio of Wilk, Kiro and Sofia emerges, a team that drew from the strength of each of their commitment to the cause as well as making a very effective team. Their team shows that women can be excellent leaders, that the unique background of each one of their lives brings out the best possible result and that they are a prime of example of diversity = strength.

Therefore, it couldn’t be any more obvious that Asirpa falls into this group where she will be a successful person and leader b/c she has the background to do so. If she just lived a simple life in her kotan, never learned to hunt, was not educated by her father she would not be a character with the ability to change things far beyond herself.

5.) Asirpa as an “idol”

As the story unfolds, the two main male characters, Sugimoto and Ogata independently figure out what her father’s plan for her future is; that she was being trained to be a populist revolutionary with a skill set to fight imperial powers through guerrilla warfare in the “frontier”.

This first comes out in chapters 136 & 137 when Sugimoto finds Wilk at Abarashi and confirms his identity by showing him her menomakkiri. Sugimoto then asks him why he set her up to be a major player for the gold.

Sugimoto wanted to avoid having the two meet since he doesn’t want Asirpa to come to terms with the fact that Wilk tattooed all of those prisoners and hid the gold and he killed his fellow Ainu comrades.

Wilk trained Asirpa from the start to become a partisan, or a Hokkaido version of a partisan at least based on the info that is revealed at this point. Wilk working with HIjikata, leads Sugimoto conclude that Wilk wants to use Asirpa the face and the leader of an Ainu independence movement and aid in the creation of an independent Hokkaido. He accuses him of setting her up to be an Ainu Joan of Arc.

Sugimoto is clearly upset with this as he sees Asirpa as a little sister and he has made it clear through his actions that at times, he feels that as an adult he gets to make decisions that are good for her even if it means withholding information or protecting her.

After Ogata shot and killed Wilk and injured Sugimoto as well, he continues to journey north under Kiro’s leadership for Asirpa to remember the key to the gold based on Wilk’s past and also the goal to break Sofia out of prison. Ogata has been observing Asirpa for a long time by this point, he immediately figured out who Asirpa was in Yubari, one of the few times he’s hand an internal dialogue.

As they travel north, Ogata has his fever dream flashback involving Yuusaku and the hypocrisy at the heart of Yuusaku’s philosophy instilled in him from their father. Asirpa and Ogata are both linked to their father’s visually by inheriting their eyes and the fact that both of their fathers had high expectations for their children. The irony is that Asirpa is supposed to become a leader like her father and up until this point she has been successful in being a leader and having the skills to lead in the future. In contrast, Ogata is the abandoned son, who likely has the skill set to be a military leader that his father so desperately wanted which was clearly lacking in Yuusaku. This leads to the awkward conversation in chapter 187 that he has with her as he loses it after she rejects him. . . What is most important about this is that unlike Sugimoto, Ogata bluntly calls out Asirpa. She has sworn that she will not kill anyone in the fight for the gold. But as their group learns more and more about Wilk’s unwavering dedication to the creation of a confederation of indigenous peoples of the far North East, it becomes clear even to Asirpa that she was trained in more than just hunting animals as any Ainu would.

Where Ogata likely gets his mental wires crossed is when he thinks that Wilk told Asirpa that she should not kill other humans. Thus, he sees Asirpa as just like Yuusaku, keeping his hands clean b/c Hanazawa told him that he alone must remain pure and not kill.

To date in the story there has been no scene or flashback where Wilk has told Asirpa that she must not kill others. As far as we know, Asirpa’s no killing policy is both an Ainu policy but also her own personal moral code. Until other evidence is revealed in the manga, I’m going with that. When she and Sugimoto first met, she made it very clear that she won’t kill in the quest for the gold and that she saved Ogata from Sugimoto b/c he promised her that he wouldn’t kill him in that instance.

Both Sugimoto and Ogata think that her father was setting her up to be an idol/martyr for the Ainu cause, but both are projecting their own problems onto her in this idol position. It is true that Wilk raised Asirpa to be a leader with an obvious partisan/revolutionary slant but he also instilled in her sense of the importance of her cultural identity and heritage and how they should preserve it against greater powers.

6.) Asirpa as a female character with agency

The cast of gk is dominated by male characters and definitely fails the Bechdel test, as Asirpa’s motivations are about her father (a man) and she is working with a man who she has a kid crush on, Sugimoto, and is interacting with very few women such as her Huci, her cousin Osoma and Inkarmat. Inkarmat only becomes involved with her b/c of a man, Wilk, so until the moment on the roof of the prison that Inkarmat realizes it is about Asirpa and not about Wilk.

The good thing is that Asirpa is a female character with agency and there are other female characters also with agency in the cast. She sees herself as a partner with Sugimoto and they have been reunited and have re-established their partnership. When Sugimoto abandoned her in Otaru, she rescued him and then punished him with the sutu.

I’ve stated in other meta that their partnership is still unequal and Sugimoto is “protecting” her by not telling her the full details but he at least isn’t treating her like a complete inferior in the partnership. But Asirpa entered this partnership viewing it as an equal so we know that her own approach to it has to do with her own involvement.

Asirpa has been able to order various adult men to do as she has asked, she gets them to pitch in to the cooking duties, saying citatap, and contributing to the team which is another remarkable skill.

This overlaps with another concept where Asirpa acts as a mother to all of these lost boys. She is always looking out for everyone and she has all of them obeying her like little chicks lined up for citatap feeding time here in chapter 119.

She has lost her family, so it is clear that one of her roles is to try to reform a family, just her family consists of a bunch of emotionally damaged Japanese war vets, a petty criminal and Inkarmat and Cikapasi to an extent. This is not exactly the best family to have but is what is happening with the people she encounters. One could write a lot more about Asirpa as a mothering character but I don’t want to dwell on that concept here.

Asirpa is not a character with agency in a vacuum, instead her decisions are being influenced by the adults around her. She was whisked away to Karafuto/Sakhalin by Kiro and Ogata to contribute to the Partisan cause but this really gave her distance from Sugimoto to realize that he was also influencing her decisions more than she was aware of which is good. The sad part is that Kiro died and she almost killed Ogata to get this perspective. In some ways this is very realistic, everyone influences each other through relationships and encounters. A good way to approach her agency is that she is almost like a child ruler. She inherited the secret to the gold and now adults are trying their best to use her for their own self interest. This in part has forced her to face issues the average kid wouldn’t have encountered at her age but this is part of the role her character is playing in the manga. I also try to remind myself that the concept of kids being immature and not little adults is a very new concept for most socieities so even though we as readers know that she is being asked to make decisions on things she shouldn’t, at the time it is less unusual. Yes, research has shown that kids and teens are different physiologically compared to adults with a lot of that in their brain development. But that was not known at the turn of the century so treating her more closely to an adult isn’t unusual or odd. Keep in mind Kiro became involved with the Partisans only a few years older than she is. . . .

Thankfully she isn’t the only female character with agency. Inkarmat wields a high amount of agency in the series, she is a drifter and uses that to her advantage. Unfortunately, she is motivated by her memories of her time with Wilk as a child and has spent too much of her adult life chasing after him or perhaps the memory of him . . . she wears his mother’s clothing and keeps using her divination to try to give her an answer about Wilk’s fate than what the facts have told her. But she does her best as a woman in a society where she lacks a lot of power to try to influence the hunt for the gold. It really is a shame that she and Kiro were unable to find something to unite them, but Tsurumi worked hard to make sure she would doubt him as much as possible.

Enonoka is another female character with agency. She is a business savy Karafuto Ainu girl who is also very good at ordering others to do things for her. She uses her knowledge of Japanese to help with this and I like that she is a strong character as well. I love the scene where she makes the deal with Koito for the use of the dogsleds and shakes his hand.

Sofia is another female character who is the leader of the Russian Partisans. I was hoping for more from her character with her introduction and brief time with Kiro, Ogata, Shiraishi and Asirpa. But she will be back, Asirpa said she would fine her when she needs to and I think that will be the case.

Last but not least, Umeko, Sugimoto’s love also is a character with agency. She chose Toraji and when Sugimoto returned, she supported Toraji and pretty much showed that she would support him not matter what happened even if Sugimoto beat his ass.

Out of all of these women, Asirpa is the woman with the most possible power and agency. This leads into my last point.

7.) Asirpa as the future.

Asirpa is supposed to represent the future of the Ainu. This is embodied in the name that Wilk gave her. She would be a new and innovative leader for her people. She was trained in the ways of hunting like a boy would have been but is a girl. Based on the previous 6 points, they all combine to make Asirpa a character who is set to inherit the “future” and the power that comes with it. She hasn’t been as damaged as the adult characters but she will be altered due to this entire experience. She is the one who ultimately is the key to finding the gold and the decision to find it will likely come down to her.

Will she fulfill her father’s goals for her? Likely not, as she learned from the journey but will continue to question if the gold is something that should be found.

So I just described many of the roles that Asirpa is playing in the manga. What does this all mean and how do I as a reader feel about this?

I think that Asirpa’s character is doing too much in the manga in the context of the story.

I don’t think it was done intentionally, but as the story developed she got more roles and events tied to her. I personally think this is a disservice to readers b/c she’s too multifaceted and I fear many readers will simplify her role as to not find all of these angles to be too confusing.

The anime took this approach - Asirpa became an Ainu girl who is super cute and is tied to a man who is a former Russian revolutionary who wanted her to have the secret to the gold to lead the Ainu.

This is something that I really have been thinking about seriously since it is hard to get a grasp of how her character is being understood in the context of this being a Japanese manga. Do Japanese readers look at Asirpa the same way that I’ve listed above? Do they see beyond the fact that she is cute? I was talking with a friend of a friend in Japan who is Japanese and he simply saw Asirpa as a cute spunky female character. Did he see her as a girl torn between her culture and the forced assimilation of her people and lost of her culture and racial discrimination? Likely not.

In dialogue with American Ainu, I have also learned that Asirpa is being used as a cute mascot for cultural tourism where her family is from in Hokkaido. It seems like a misuse of a character who is playing all of these complex roles in the manga to be reduced to a friendly cute native welcoming you to be a cultural voyeur as you eat Ainu cuisine and say “Hinna hinna.” You can visit her culture but she can’t actually practice her culture. This seems to be a quite the difference from what her character is doing within the manga.

I wonder if she makes a good icon b/c she is a cute, nonthreatening native welcoming you to enjoy her culture but not fighting back for her rights? I keep dwelling on the idea that a lot of readers in the English language fandom did not like Kiroranke’s character. Is this b/c he is a threatening man who was fighting back against the government and imperialism? What if Asirpa were actually a male character? Would a male Asirpa being fulfilling all of these roles in the manga that she is? Likely not. One part of me likes the fact that Asirpa is mixed race, this is a good thing to bring up to Japanese readers who still struggle with their own approach to mixed race people and still stick to the idea that they are a homogeneous people and nation forgetting that they have a poor history with native peoples that have been oppressively ruled by them for centuries. The other part of me would have preferred she be a normal Hokkaido Ainu and instead be linked to Wilk being a Partisan Ainu native who worked with Sofia and Kiro as a non-mixed race Karafuto Ainu. By having Asirpa, Wilk and Kiro as mixed race it still leaves non-mixed race Ainu out of the story as having less power and agency.

#golden kamuy #gk meta #asirpa #asirpa as an ainu #ainu #sugimoto saichi #wilk #kiroranke #sofia #tsurumi tokushirou #ogata hyakunosuke #inkarmat #fighting imperialism #lone female leader #girl among men

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ghostmartyr · 6 years

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What does the manga add to Roy and Riza's relationship that the anime doesn't have? Asking out of curiosity since I'm an anime only and they're still one of my favourite pairs of all time!

Oh, ha, I didn’t specifically point to the manga because I have anything in particular against Brotherhood (…or 2003 for that matter) it’s just not my canon, and I’m used to specifying which version of FMA I mean when I talk about the series. I do have a list of petty grievances against Brotherhood, but there is nothing fundamentally altered between Roy and Riza.

I mean. Yes. A number of my petty grievances are related to them. And feel slightly less petty as thought is spent on them.

But I would need to go back and watch the anime scenes again to point out the specifics of why.

[many hours later]

(As a note about this post, since I guess I did make the choice of tagging it, this is heavily critical about some specific moments in the Brotherhood anime, but before I get started I want to emphasize that my problems, with the exception of an example that spans a volume, don’t cover even two minutes of video. These things exist, and they bug me, and I clearly have things to say about them, but Brotherhood is 64 episodes long. My impassioned hatred of a few choice features isn’t indicative of my overall feelings on the anime.

Essentially, this is me having fun whining. Not trying to set off landmines. I hope it proves enjoyable.)

So there is this scene change in the first five minutes of episode 19 that has my eternal hatred and I have no plans to ever forgive. That has been true since it aired, and it is still true here today, because I am insufferably stubborn.

(I actually did a session about it before. I’m probably going to repeat most of it, but have a link if it interests you.)

That is not the dialogue the manga goes with.

In the manga, Riza’s interaction with Roy is focused on “what the fuck were you thinking why are you here.” Both versions have the scene with her berating Mustang for endangering the mission to save her.

In the anime, the above screencaps are what follow. After giving him a hard time for showing up at all, she thanks him for saving her life. Sweet, I guess, except Roy fires back with a mission-focused response.

If I were doing an anime-only meta thing, something could be said about the hypocrisy of Roy playing hero only to lecture other people about concentrating on the mission, and it would just be another cute thing. I guess. If I were in a charitable mood maybe.

But this is the first anime adaptation I sat through properly, angsting about every twist and turn and change.

My grudges. They last.

In the manga, Mustang brings up the slightly more personal aspects of what has happened. The reason he runs after Hawkeye is that he just lost Hughes, he won’t lose her, and he loses his head entirely. They have the yelling session over it, and he basically yells back the equivalent of, “yeah yeah fine -sulk sulk sulk-”

They leave Fuery and Hayate behind, and we have the presented moment.

Going to assist Riza is not the Proper choice for the military operation they’re running. It was a dangerous thing for Roy to have done, and she rightfully calls him on it. But he does it because he cares, and the fact that he cares is why all these people follow him. He’s a hopeless, idealistic dreamer at heart. His squad is loyal to him because he’s loyal to them.

Roy Mustang is a damn softy.

In the anime, Riza’s the one to call attention back to the whole life-saving motive. In the manga, it’s Roy.

In the anime, when it comes up, Roy dismisses it.

In the manga, when it comes up, Riza apologizes for worrying him.

It’s a small moment, but small moments are allowed to matter, and when small moments are changed, it leaves a bigger impact than if they were just left alone.

In the anime, this exchange, plus Hawkeye’s smile after, suggests that the sentimentality of the relationship comes primarily from her. Riza’s the one having her heart warmed when they have a job to do.

…That’s a slightly meaner way to put it than the scene perhaps deserves, but there is no unfair bitterness like unfair bitterness towards Brotherhood for me. Whining about this adaptation is a thing I do, despite honestly loving the majority.

Anyway, in the manga, the scene is both of them putting legwork into their dynamic. Hawkeye yells at Mustang for showing up out of sentiment, but when he expresses that sentiment in the aftermath, she expresses understanding of his perspective. He did a stupid thing, but they’re a team, and both at ease with their interplay.

In the anime, stop talking Hawkeye, don’t you know we have a job.

The manga is a conversation, the anime is putting a wall up to prevent that conversation. Especially annoying is that the character putting the wall up is the one who initiates the conversation in the manga. The anime drags Mustang back from his emotional openness and pushes Hawkeye to be more so, then provides a dismissal of her acting that way.

Besides being an inverse plus a step back for their relationship, it. also just feels kind of sexist. Instead of the man talking about feelings, the woman is. When the man talks about his feelings, it’s greeted with understanding and respect, when the woman talks about her feelings, it’s greeted with the instruction to put it somewhere else.

The fact that they changed it bothers me, because the way it is in the manga is great. It’s one of many small moments Roy and Riza have where they are shown to respect and care for each other.

The anime version doesn’t add anything, and lessens the mutuality of that bond.

I snarl in its general direction.

The other change that springs to mind is of a similar cloth.

Mustang and Hawkeye encounter the Elrics before they’re aware of Hughes’ death, and Mustang makes up a story about Hughes retiring in the country with his family so that they won’t go looking for him.

Hawkeye greets this with the face of judgment. “Why are you treating him like a child all of a sudden?” He’s never shied from giving Ed adult responsibilities before. This is a blatant lie. Roy says they don’t need any further obstacles to their journey.

A few moments pass. In silence, in the manga. In the anime, Riza points out that they’re going to find out someday. Then…

“…Who am I trying to kid?”

(Funimation, the heck is with some of your translation choices. Did you just keep the simulcast version for the official DVD subs?)

So there are a few things. The most obvious difference is the dialogue changes. Hawkeye is more insistent about how the Elrics will find out at some point, then after Mustang makes his character commentary, she calls it cruel instead of sighing and moving on to the next topic.

The other most obvious change is that Mustang smiles after calling himself soft in the anime.

These all sort of play together.

In the manga, Hawkeye is just as judgmental as she is in the anime, but she allows Mustang the space to dwell on his choices for himself. She asks him one question about how he’s treating Edward, then they walk in silence, her disapproval creating a tangible aura.

It isn’t simply Hawkeye judging him. He’s judging himself. In the anime it comes off as a, “tee-hee, what a silly softhearted boi I am.” So in the anime, she vocally objects to what he’s doing.

In the manga, Mustang takes in his inability to break the news to the Elrics as the emotional flaw that it is, and Hawkeye lets him off the hook. He doesn’t need a lecture; he knows his shortcomings. It’s not great, but he’s the kind of person who doesn’t want to tell Ed and Al that Hughes is dead because Hughes tried to help them.

Again, Mustang’s softness is part of what endears him to his crew. It is not always a good trait. Sometimes, as in this case, it’s actively causing problems. But it is who he is.

Riza knows this, and she can let this failure pass with a sigh because Roy knows it too. The anime version has a smile when it’s nothing to smile over. The manga version is more, “hahaha… fuck.”

Roy and Riza know each other and themselves extraordinarily well. They might have the boundaries of superior and subordinate, but they are comfortable enough in their understanding of each other that they are allowed to be themselves. It’s the conversation thing. There is an undercurrent of figurative dialogue to their relationship that never stops.

When they do call each other out in the manga, it does not keep the conversation from flowing. It continues it. Both of the above changes take it to a stuttering halt in their scenes.

Then we have episode 30.

After which, I do not have memories specific enough to shout about things or know if there are things to shout about, but episode 30.

-screams forever and ever and ever-

-intersperses screams with tears of anguish-

From what I know of being an FMA fan, it is difficult to be an FMA fan without being passingly familiar with the debates of which version is better. Usually it’s Brotherhood vs. 2003. My personal, obviously right opinion, is that this is the wrong way to do it, and it should be manga vs. 2003, because really it’s an argument over which plot is better, and Brotherhood’s plot is the property of the manga.

I also think it’s impossible to really debate. The two series have different feels and themes. They are both extremely well done, meaning that which one you prefer comes down to personal preference.

I’m pretty sure people who bother to have those discussions could say a lot more on the topic, but that’s my general, broad stroke, very glossed-over perspective on it all.

I mention this because I think anyone who loves FMA should read volume fifteen of the manga. If you’re not a manga person, you don’t want to read 27 volumes of manga, yeah, understandable. You have your version of the story, enjoy it, you shouldn’t feel the need to read the original if you don’t want to. The idea that you have to pour every bit of content into your brain to be a good fan is pretty unhealthy.

But I recommend volume 15 regardless, because the anime does not come close to presenting its content. It is four chapters devoted to the Ishvalan War. Outside the framing device (Ed going to return Hawkeye’s gun and asking about what went down), the entire volume basically stands on its own.

It is a harrowing, intimate depiction of the genocide campaign. That is the focus of the entire volume.

Scar’s backstory is moved to an earlier section in the anime, and Mustang burning Hawkeye’s back is moved to the Envy fight, so this might be an unfair barb to throw, but I still want to say it. The anime covers this volume in one episode.

-goes back to screaming-

(Honestly though, some of the best fun I ever had in fandom came from being on a forum full of manga fans and all of us yelling our despair over Brotherhood’s choices. You would never believe that this anime was considered the gold standard of anything.)

But we’re here for Roy and Riza!

There’s only one thing that sincerely bothers me to pain of the irritation of the above. Most of my sulking is just why did they do this to my favorite volume. Mustang and Hawkeye’s stuff is mostly intact. Except when it isn’t.

Chronologically, the first complaint is that when Riza’s father collapses (dies), Mustang is alone with him. In the manga, the scene ends with a shot of Riza, watching, terrified, from the doorway.

Also known as the scene where Roy calls Riza by her first name.

-still screaming-

The cemetery scene is truncated. The anime jumps right into Roy and Riza discussing Roy becoming a soldier. The manga starts the scene out with the focus on funeral things. Roy asks if Riza has other family, and what she plans to do now.

After that, he offers her his number, and they get to talking about the military and Roy’s dream.

They also cut this.

In the anime, Roy discusses his military life through the lens of Master Hawkeye’s opinion on it, asking if Riza is going to disapprove as well. Roy starts talking because he assumes that’s how she feels about it, and preemptively defends his perspective.

In the original, when Roy hands Riza his information, she asks, “For the rest of your life…?” It’s followed by the above panel.

Roy’s monologue about his aspirations and his dream for what he can do as a member of the military happens because Riza asks. Not directly, but her addition to the conversation prompts him to talk about his views, and he mentions that those views are why he studied alchemy. In other words, why he’s standing in front of a grave, awkwardly trying to talk to his dead master’s daughter.

Following that, the original pays more attention to the lead-up of Riza entrusting Roy with her father’s research. In the anime, she jumps straight from the ideals topic to asking if she can trust him with it.

In the manga, there’s that beat of contemplation after Roy brings up alchemy, and how his master didn’t teach him everything.

Riza tells him that his dream sounds wonderful.

Another beat.

That’s when she tells him that her father did leave his alchemical secrets behind. Words about this are exchanged for a small number of panels.

In the anime, she asks Roy if she can entrust her father’s work (dream, values) to him. Directly after the dream dialogue.

In the manga, when Roy tries to bring their discussion back to Riza’s father, and what he did with his research, Riza redirects him. It isn’t about her father. It’s about her, and by consequence, Roy, and how Roy’s dream inspires her.

“That dream… Can I entrust you with my back so that I can help make it come true?”

The anime severely underplays the significance of Riza offering her father’s research to Roy. They address it a little once Envy is being dealt with, but in the manga, all of the discussion of Riza watching Roy’s back is drawn from how Riza’s back is what’s given Roy the power to rise as far as he has.

It goes from maintextual subtext to subtextual subtext.

Also, the cuts to their conversation just plain means that there’s less of Roy and Riza interacting. The two of them are very, very young, standing in front of a grave and talking about ideals. The longer manga version allows the quality of their youthful awkwardness to truly shine.

The scene is dropped in the middle of the volume, whereas in the anime, it opens the Ishvalan flashback. There’s much to be examined about how that affects the emotional impact, but… geez that gets to be a lot of threads. Trying to go through all of the ways they crammed a whole volume into one episode is just going to make me dizzy.

Even if the theoretical focus of this post weren’t shipping, I’m not sure my brain would be up for that. There’s just so much going on, and the time allotted means it’s a Frankenstein job.

The one major difference for Roy and Riza, which I can’t believe they went with, and can’t believe my sad feelings every time I watch the episode and confirm yeah, they really went that way with it.

Why why why why why why why why must you hurt me this way.

SO!

THE ANIME VERSION!

OF ROY AND RIZA MEETING IN ISHVAL!

Riza walks up and says hi after noticing them because Hughes is babbling about his future wife.

Yay.

The manga version does not. does not do that.

It.

That’s not how it goes.

At all.

In the manga, Roy and Hughes run into each other on their break and start chilling together. Hughes gets a letter, does his excited babbling, Roy tells him to stop being a stereotypical red shirt, when suddenly

Oh noes.

Roy and Hughes react as fast as they can, which might or might not end up fast enough, when a bullet goes through the Ishvalan’s brain.

There’s quiet for a moment, then Roy gets behind cover because oh no gunshot, and Hughes tells him to chill, it’s all good.

“We have the ‘hawk’s eye’ on our side. […] A real ace sharpshooter… who’s causing quite a stir in my circle of friends. She’s still in the academy but because she’s so skilled… they brought her to the front.”

Guess who.

Hughes and Roy, being the good people they are, go back to camp to thank the sniper for saving them. Hughes is his cheery self. Roy is not noticeably perturbed.

Then the sniper drops her hood and stands up.

You could say I prefer the manga version. It has Riza being a badass, and adds to the shock they both have of seeing each other here.

Riza gets her own little horrified section of panels all about it.

She was just helping out two soldiers. She didn’t realize until after she fired that one of them was Roy, and that he’s in this hell too.

The other thing that I enjoy about this particular sequence of panels is that in the manga, they come up a bit earlier. Throughout the manga, Ishval flashback panels are everywhere. As this scene is initially presented (Hawkeye looking at Mustang through her scope), many chapters earlier, it looks like maybe they’re on opposite sides.

Or maybe it’s just me who thinks that’s a thing.

In any case, it adds some serious drama to their reunion. In the anime, the drama is entirely that they are both here in this awful war. In the manga, a Mysterious Sniper saves Roy’s life and turns out to be his master’s daughter.

It’s just cooler, okay?

Their conversation when Riza becomes Roy’s aide is also truncated. Riza says her specialty is guns, because death doesn’t linger when you use them. Roy tells her, with what I feel is sympathy, that’s just a deception to make the work easier. She agrees, but because she’s decided that work is necessary, there we go.

…

I thought that would be my last thing, but now that I have volume fifteen open, I can’t help but go to the scene during the Envy stuff. I won’t touch the main scenes of that, though I’m sure there are changes, because this is already too long and I’ve officially gone through the things that personally affect my view of the anime, which… was, at some point, maybe, the point of the ask. ^^;

Basically, I will never stop if I go through everything, but in case it isn’t obvious, I really love the fifteenth volume, so to Envy we go.

Huh. They really didn’t alter much. The core’s all there. Because of the placement, Mustang gets docked a few lines, and he is rewarded one of Riza’s (about making the tattoo as illegible as possible) in return, but it’s basically the same, with the addition of Riza thanking him.

I have no particular feelings on that. The ending of the scene is different because it’s not intended to go with the rest of the Ishvalan War, and… I guess I could manufacture some dislike over Riza expressing gratitude instead of the pure stubbornness the manga has. It distracts a little from why she’s asking those secrets to be burned off. They’re in a hell of their own creation. The soft thanks blurs the cutting edge.

Which isn’t to say I can’t have other problems with it.

As a manga reader who enjoyed Brotherhood as it was coming out, as well as someone who is writing this mostly from memory and going over only specific scenes, I have no way to ascertain how clear it is to anime fans what happens with Riza’s back and when. In the manga, it is excruciatingly clear that her father puts his research on her back, that is how Roy comes to have Flame Alchemy, and that is what Riza asks him to burn off.

Since that’s all in volume fifteen, the next twelve volumes are read with the understanding that before Riza is instructed to watch Roy’s back in case he falls, she offers him her back, and brings the ruin of Flame Alchemy to Ishval.

That history defines them. Their own choices plant them in that war, but Roy uses the alchemy she gives him out of hope for a better world to commit genocide. It’s a horrific weight on both of them, and his decision to have Riza, of all people, watch his back after the war?

Dude, it is such an amazing ship detail. Riza entrusts her back to Roy. He, in turn, entrusts his to her.

I get why it’s moved. Sort of. Given that volume fifteen is given one episode, I get why it’s moved. It’s most heavily relevant to Roy’s rampage against Envy.

However, I don’t think the power of knowing the depths of their connection earlier on can be understated. Roy and Riza’s devotion and synergy comes from watching their shared idealism burn the people they wanted to protect to a crisp, and their commitment to never letting that happen again. They create a hell through their good intentions. Having done that, they do not abandon their good intentions. They refine them and continue forward.

That is what binds them together. They rise from the ashes of their flames.

I do not, for the most part, think Brotherhood does them a major disservice. My gripes are pretty much all listed above, and my praises are endless.

But if you really love Roy and Riza, I’d seriously recommend reading the manga at some point, because there’s stuff the anime doesn’t bother with. AKA, yes, there is even more royai to be uncovered, don’t you want to seeeeee? :D :D

This kind of obviously grew past what you were initially asking, but I hope it serves a satisfactory answer regardless! Thanks for the opportunity to spam my love for these two!

…Through spamming my hate of stuff, but we’re ignoring that.

#Fullmetal Alchemist #FMA #royai #tl;dr #asks

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snkpolls · 6 years

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SnK S3E09 Poll Results (Manga Reader Version)

The poll closed with 494 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that this is the results of the manga reader poll. Anime only watchers are suggested not to read if you do not wish to be spoiled about certain events! Anime only viewers, click here to view your poll results!

RATE THE EPISODE 486 Responses

Nearly adapted completely verbatim from the manga, overall the episode ranking was very positive this week, with no votes for it being awful. Seems each week keeps getting better and better!

All in all, brilliant episode. 10/10 would watch again, despite giant exploding guts.

It was great, especially what they did with Rod Reiss 120 meters Titan. I feel this was executed better than the manga. Hopefully, WIT Studio continues this way with season 3 and the next seasons of Attack on Titan.

Best episode of the season so far in my opinion! Was about to have a heart attack towards the end tho when I thought they flew over the flashback:(

In my opinion it was the best episode of the season. The animation rivaled levi vs kenny from the first two episodes

Amazing! My fav episode so far. Can't see anything bad this episode, except for that cliffhanger.... RIP Kenny

The animation was like Titan steam, cause it blew my away

Incredible devotion to detail. Best looking episode so far!

This season honestly just keeps getting better and better. The first few eps were a little shocking with the rearrangements and pacing changes, but now I'm back to being a WIT stan.

Easily one of the top 8 episodes of the entire series for me, so far.

HOW ABOUT THAT BARRICADES ORCHESTRAL REARRANGE? 480 Responses

Overall the fandom was positively hyped hearing that new arrangements of Barricades in the background. Now we’re all just asking, “where is the damn ost!?”

I NEED THE OST IN MY POSSESSION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE PLEASE OH MY GOD. The Barricades remix was incredible?!?!?!?!!?!?

Really good music

the soundtracks were amazing man

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WERE YOUR FAVORITE OVERALL SCENES? 486 Responses

Overall, most voters were stoked to see Rod’s face reveal more than anything. Following closely after that is Historia declaring herself the ruler of the walls, Levi finding Kenny by the collapsed cave and the Survey Corps taking out Rod.

YAASSS! Historia just named herself queen! I loved that part!

One little niggling thing for me is that scene where Eren watches Mikasa lift barrels effortlessly. I liked how the focus on her strength was made obvious by showing a brief glimpse of episode 1 -the time Mikasa was NOT strong enough. It made my heart weep man.

GOD I LOVE THE REISS TITAN. SEEING IT ANIMATED WAS SO FUCKING SICK.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WERE YOUR FAVORITE MC CHARACTER INTERACTIONS? 483 Responses

Eren accidentally inferring that Levi is a tiny, old man was voted most enjoyable scene of the episode, followed closely by Levi regrettably telling Kenny that he’s done for. Historia being firm about her stance with Erwin was another highly voted scene, along with Eren putting his game face back on.

I really liked Historia's characterization in this episode. It was nice to see her standing her ground in front of Erwin and the scene where she defeats her father was the episode's highlight for me.

HOW COOL WAS IT TO SEE THE POV OF A MINDLESS TITAN? 485 Responses

Overall, respondents were pretty stoked to see how a pure titan senses other humans.

YOUR REACTION TO ROD’S TITAN’S FACE REVEAL? 484 Responses

44% of respondents agree that the animation of Rod’s gruesome face was simply “awesome!” 25% were disgusted and 21% saw nothing but nightmare fuel. Ultimately we can all agree WIT really did a good job on this one!

ADORE

It set my gag reflex off like crazy, that shit was so disgusting! IMAGINE THE SMELL.

Finally! Gruesome details like that are an important part of the SnK universe and shouldn't be left out.

I'm glad WIT finally had the guts to go all out with Rod's titan form. It was definitely needed.

As Zackly would say: beautiful

I love that kind of macabre things but holy cannoli, I flinched so hard after seeing it. BIG KUDOS to the guys who animated this, it was a disgusting perfection.

Awesome disgusting & horrifying

If I were one of the soldiers I would've just shit my pants right there

Horrifyingly awesome! Awesomely horrifying?! THERE WAS BOTH RECOIL AND DELIGHT.

Wow it was awesome! It was so good to see first his eyes and then how devastated his face was. He had holes for eyes and the blood was like tears which fits with what Ymir said about mindless titans - that is incredible suffering.

It was absolutely disgusting and everything I was hoping for! Amazing!

Seriously don't get why it has to be so gross

I loved Rod’s Titan. It’s the stuff of nightmares.

Oh cool! Oh god.

WHO DREW IT BETTER - ISAYAMA OR WIT? 484 Responses

While Isayama drew Levi’s wanted poster better in the eyes of the fandom, WIT won the vote for Erwin’s talented left-handed drawing of Rod. We all thought it was beautiful either way!

Erwin actually draws better than me AND I WENT TO DRAWING CLASS FFS

WHOSE GRAVE DO YOU THINK EREN WAS VISITING? 481 Responses

Over half of respondents believe that Eren was visiting Hannes’ grave sometime between the events of Clash and Uprising arcs. 28% believe he was paying respects to a member of the original Levi Squad, while 25% believe it wasn’t anyone notable. Some write in answers had creative ideas:

A brat, I hope he's dead

His hopes and dreams

Can’t be Hannes or Squad Levi because they haven’t had time since the expedition for funerals. I think it’s Marco’s and the funeral was for the Battle of Trost.

I think it was an unnamed soldier's grave, but I was really hoping for it to be Hannes'

No idea, maybe a random soldier from Trost? When they're in titan territory how can they even stop to pick up what's left of bodies? I know they did after they escaped Annie but I never bought it much.

Mine, for this episode has killed me dead

Carla's empty grave.

Marco or some of his other comrades

HOW MUCH DO YOU RELATE TO EREN PUNCHING HIMSELF? 483 Responses

Half of respondents feel like Eren punching himself is a big and relatable mood (or perhaps, some of you relate to wanting to punch him?). 33% sometimes feel this way while 16% apparently never get this frustrated with themselves.

Didn't really like the Eren punching himself bit but he did kinda need it.

i wANT TO HUG MY DEPRESSED SON :(

HOW DID YOU LIKE THOSE THROWBACK FLASHBACKS FROM SEASON 1? 484 Responses

44% of respondents have appreciated seeing the nostalgic look of Season 1 peppered in with the current animation. 27% think that it’s pretty surreal to see the differences put together, and 22% didn’t really care or notice either way.

It was great to remind us about times when everything seemed so simple...

All those flashbacks annoyed me to be honest.

I thought that they should have reanimated it at first, but then I realized it would require more work which takes too much time

It’s so cool to see how much the animation has improved

I miss season 1 character designs

Im crying, missing my thicc lines

WOULD YOU ACCEPT HISTORIA AS YOUR RULER? 485 Responses

The majority of voters would be thrilled to bow down to Historia and accept her rule. 22% wouldn’t mind, while a smaller percentage would rather nope out of that situation.

Historia can rule me anytime, anywhere ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Hisu could knock the shit out of me and I'd be thankful, honestly

Historia is bae

If anyone insults Historia i hope Rods titan guts fall on their head.

ROD IS A TINY OLD MAN. IS LEVI A TINY OLD MAN TOO? 483 Responses

41% of voters used this question to pay respects to Eren - who most definitely was shook by the realization that he used the words “tiny” and “old” in front of Levi. No respondents agree that Levi is old but everyone can agree that Levi is tiny.

Tiny old man is bestboi

WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE ADDED MOMENT WHERE EREN GAINS CONFIDENCE IN HIMSELF AGAIN? 479 Responses

Over half of voters believed the added scene was a good way to show Eren getting back on his feet after his meltdown. 14% agree that it got them hyped up for what’s coming. 10%, however, believe that the moment canceled out his previous behavior and didn’t make a lot of sense.

I liked it and he looked great but it did seem out of nowhere that he got he confidence back so quickly.

Huh? That was added?

It was awesome. I liked that part as it showed Eren's natural self and weaker state. He was relatable.

It felt out of place? Like it came out of nowhere.

Objectively, it was a great step in his character development. I just don't care about him, that's all.

I felt like he didnt really have to gain confidence to do his part, it was very shounen-like but I guess its ok

I wish my crises of confidence were that short

It negated his previous (and/or future) behaviour imo but DAMN SON HE‘S HANDSOME. RIP IN PEPPERONI MY OVARIES.

It's a little bit of hope that'll be crushed in the next arc.

makes me wonder how they’ll change (if at all) his ‘i’m not special, just the son of a special man’ moment later on with keith

WE FINALLY GOT TO SEE HOW TITANS SEEK OUT HUMANS WITH THEIR “6TH SENSE”! HEAT SENSORY! ARE YOU GLAD THAT ISAYAMA FINALLY ANSWERED OUR QUESTION WITH THIS EPISODE? 481 Responses

43% of voters appreciated the added detail, while ⅓ of voters were excited to finally have this sensory detail shown to us! A small percentage were unimpressed.

I think it's not heat, but actual human sensory.

But surly that would attract them to animals and so heat sensory can't be the ENTIRE process of detecting humans.

H E A T P A T H S

I'm pretty sure titan vision was 'souls' seen with PATHS and not heat detection or else titan would eat animals, at least that's what I thought when watching that scene

That still doesn't answer how and why titans differentiate between humans and other living things.

I knew it, but one question. Why do they need eyes if they got a sixth sense? Is the 6th sense an insurance if their eyes failed them? The 6th sense could be the work of PATHs lol...nah most likely heat detection.

P A T H S

We don’t know if it was heat sensory, but it was good.

DID THE RISE OF QUEEN HISTORIA MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS? 482 Responses

Nearly half of respondents got what they expected overall, while about 40% had their expectations exceeded. Just under 10% of voters weren’t very impressed with the way it was adapted. Overall, the love for Historia is very real.

Game of thrones "Mhysa" soundtrack just kept playing in my head when she proclaimed herself as the queen to the citizens. It was REALLY well done, I loved every minute of her scenes

Underwhelmed is a strong word. I think the scene in the manga was stronger, but the anime was still pretty good. The battle was absolutely great, I just feel her final declaration carried a bit more panache in the manga.

It was very okay

Historia really rocked. She is the true badass of this arc.

I was expecting a little more intense music, but yeah, that was fine the way they did it though.

Not a fan of the moment in the Manga, it felt shoehorned imo. Masterful adaptation, however

This is on me because the scene was done great but I wasn't as hyped as I thought I'd be which upset me because I've been waiting to see this for years.

THE SEIYUUS FOR ZEKE, REINER AND BERTOLT WERE REVEALED TO BE IN THE NEXT EPISODE. HOW HYPED ARE YOU TO SEE THEM? 483 Responses

The vast majority of the fandom are excited to see Reiner and Bertolt come back to the screen along with their warchief, Zeke!

Gimme that warriors next episode!

I can't wait for next episode to see my babies Reiner and Berutoto ;__; Miss them

I love Pieck and hope she shows up next wieck.

I want Zeke already

ACKERDUO PARALLELS! HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT THEM SLICING AND DICING UP ROD’S GLAZED HAM TITAN IN UNISON? 481 Responses

The majority of voters were hyped to see Mikasa and Levi slicing up flesh. 23% were just happy for any parallels given some of the other things that were cut or minced up this season. A smaller percentage didn’t really care.

Ackerbrilliant!!

It amuses me how Ackermanns to Isayama are a different race of humans haha.

Ackerduo? More like Ackerdivas.

The Ackermans are such an eye-candy

Always a pleasure to see them in action 👌💯

imagine being that chill freefalling through the sky

as expected of Mikasa, don't care about Levi

I only care about Levi

HOW MANY OF YOU HAD HEART ATTACKS WHEN YOU THOUGHT KENNY’S FLASHBACKS WERE ONLY GOING TO HAPPEN IN A SPAN OF 10 SECONDS? 473 Responses

The vast majority of respondents were fooled for a few moments while watching the episode this week, worried that Levi and Kenny’s entire backstory got shoved into just a few moments. The preview eased our worries quickly enough though, thankfully! Many commenters weren’t fooled for a second, though:

I knew it was just a teaser for next episode, not worried at all

Eh, I wasn't fooled by that, just a little confused. Nice addition to the scene though!

I wasn't ready for it to be in this episode! And yeah I began to panick like "they're not going to show us just that, right??" Still, I'm not ready to see the whole flashback thing next episode... 😭😭

I expected the flashbacks the next episode because of the episode titles.

I had a feeling that they were going to dedicate an episode or at least part of an episode to Kenny's flashbacks

I knew there was no way they'd do that, the thought never crossed my mind

I was more interested in seeing how they'd play out other important parts from them. They chose some great highlights to have people wondering what the deal with Kenny's past is while also making the transition into the full flashback feel less abrupt than in the manga, where I felt I had missed a chapter in between at first.

That thought never actually occurred to me. Pretty obvious that it was set-up for the next episode.

There's been too many heart-attack moments already. I've been reduced to a fandom grandma who sips her tea and says "Don't get your knickers in a twist, wait for it...

HOW DO YOU THINK THE STORY WOULD HAVE CHANGED IF EREN HAD BEEN EATEN IN THE CAVE? 206 Responses

You guys had some pretty interesting responses! Most people agree the story would have been effectively over and Paradis wiped out. We can't publish all of the responses, but here were some which stood out (or made us laugh):

Drastically! The people of Paradis would have their minds wiped, except for Mikasa and Levi. Historia would become a slave to the First King's "hide behind the walls" ideology. The SC would be disbanded and Erwin executed. So the whole island would be doomed when Marley invade again, and take Historia with the Founding Titan power away.

Pieck kills everyone

All the walldians would have died since there would be no way for the Survey Corps to take the Founding Titan and Attack Titan back from Historia or Rod Reiss and when the marleyans would have inevitably attacked, the walldians would have been erased from the face of the earth. Perhaps by an atomic bomb.

Levi for main protagonist!

Historia would have been controlled by the will of the First King and mind-wiped everyone. But not all things are lost. Levi and Mikasa would still be there, having all of their memories intact. Kenny and his squad would also still be alive, but Kenny would still not have much to live for anymore. Mikasa and Historia would have had a huge confrontation, with Mikasa almost killing Historia for eating Eren, but in the end, she can't bring over herself to kill her because Eren is ""alive"" within Historia now. Mikasa's liege to Eren will be slowly turning into a desire to protect Historia at all cost.

Erwin will be alive / Kenny will be alive / Berth will be alive / Sasha will be alive / Marlow will be alive / Moblit will be alive / Hanji will have their left eye / Zackly will be down with his shit machine

That's actually a great idea. Knowing where the author decided to take the plot, it wouldn't have worked, of course, but I would've loved to see the rest of the 104th taking over the story after Eren's death.

No future manbun eren :(

Historia might have more controll over the ability, If she becomes queen then the scouts will lose their hope for humanity. Mikasa will most likely be.... A little upset... Overall this question is difficult to answer because it creates a Senario with multiple different senarios within it. For example will historia become queen or remain in the scouts? It's just too difficult because of the different potential timelines created from this alternate event.

Zeke upon landing on Paradis: Where's Ereh?

I have never thought about that tbh. I guess we'd have no story at all, since the cycle of Titan inheritance would have not been broken and life would go back to as it was before the "story" started. Though Maria knows what Isayama had prepared for us in the upcoming manga chapters

they wouldve sold his organs on the black market

Oh wow, I never really thought of that. If Rod ate him then the story would probably end then and there because of the memory wipe (but a rebellion led by the Ackermans?? The possibilities are endless!). If Historia ate him then *maybe* she wouldn't do the memory wipe. It's interesting to speculate. The fate of the Survey Corps would come into question and that would become the focus of the story.

yea im not gonna write an alternate fanfiction for you

WHAT SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 483 Responses

34% of voters are most looking forward to Levi and Kenny’s final heartbreaking exchange. 26% are excited to see Kenny’s backstory and his friendship with Uri unfold. 20% specifically are looking forward to Kenny and Uri’s first meeting. Where’s baby Levi!?

I'm not ready for Kenny's flashbacks next episode!! We're going to see small Levi and Kuchel and... I'm already crying 😭😭

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH URIKEN MY FRAGILE GAY HEART WILL NOT SURVIVE THE NEXT EPISIDE ASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM

I want the WHOLE backstory of Kenny taking care of Levi IMMEDIATELY!!!

NEXT EPISODE MY MAN WILL DIE!! I CAN’T DO THISSSSS

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

Beautiful animation, but I hope the next ep fills me with feels. I feel incredibly lackluster about Historia and her characterization this arc.

I always wondered in the manga how titan Rod didn't splatter his intestines on the Walls even without a skin. Like, it felt all too much clean, so anime made sense and a bit of splatter never hurt nobody! But with that scene, why WIT censors things like Levi killing humans??? They quite contradict themselves lol

Storyboards were handled by the man who storyboarded End of Eva and the Rebuilds, huh? Certainly paid off. I don't think his input was limited to storyboarding either, while easy to miss the first time around, Rod's agonized scream as he dies after Historia sees his memories is pretty disturbing and haunting. Very good stuff.

I'm sure that a lot of people will write about the battle against the Rod's titan and about Historia, so I will skip it. I have really nothing to add here except the fact that I really loved how strong, brave and mature Historia was in this episode.

Historia taking down her father gave me so many feels! I can't wait to see her get crowned and then punch Levi, he had such a heartwarming smile!

Historia is sooo fucking badass. I love Eren so much God bless his soul.

Erwin looked fucking great this episode.

Something about the anime didn't quite hit the mark, particularly in regards to the scene of Eren noticing the 3 kids and Armin giving him the pep talk. It's practically panel for panel, but the feel was just different somehow.

IT WAS A-MAZING! WE GOT THE SCENE WITH EREN INSULTING LEVI BY ACCIDENT (tho I was a bit disappointed that Levi didnt look as pissed as in the manga), WE GOT REALLY CREEPY UGLY ROD TITAN FACE, WE GOT KENNY AND LEVI MEETING, A SUPER COOL SEQUENCE OF EREN RUNNING TO GIVE ROD TITAN EXPLOSIVE CANDY, ARMIN WAS THERE, HISTORIA LOOKED COOL, ERWIN'S BLESSED ART SKILLS, IT HAD SO MANY GOOD STUFF

This episode was perfect in every way, except for Rod Reiss' giant fucking stomach just squelching onto the wall- yech!!! For a series with man eating monsters as its premise, nothing has ever made me feel as horrifyingly disgusted as that scene did. *shudder*

Seeing the serum bowl in the episode gave me chills OH MY GOOOOD I'M NOT MENTALLY READY FOR WHAT IS COMING

Historia was so good in this ep and the animation for the rod reiss titan was KILLER. WIT outdid themselves with that adaptation

RETURN TO SHIGANSHINA IS SO CLOSE I CAN ALMOST TASTE IT. I'VE SUFFERED THROUGH THIS ARC, NOW GIVE IT TO ME WIT. GIVE ME MY CHILDREN.

No additional thoughts but thanks for making this survey every week :p

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 430 Responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated! We’ll see you again on Tuesday!

#snk poll #snk polls #snk spoilers #snk s3

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chaos-of-the-abyss · 6 years

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[Death Note] Near: Anime vs. Manga Potrayals

I love Death Note. But, I have to admit that when it comes to the anime and the manga, the latter has my preference. This is for several reasons, primarily that it adds more detail, but another crucial point in which I favor the manga over the anime is Near's portrayal. I didn't think much of it at first, but when I read the manga, I couldn't help noticing just how different of an impression that Near made on me, as opposed to his anime counterpart. The more I thought about this, the more hate I saw Near get in the fandom, the more it bugged me.

Of course, there will always be those people who hate Near just for existing, pretty much, but the most common reason I saw for disliking Near was that "he was too emotionless", and "a boring, dull character. As I also found, many people who believed that also had not read the manga.

I have to say, unfortunately; in my experience, the anime's portrayal of Near did make him seem like such unless you dug really, really deep - almost irritatingly so. When I first watched the anime, I was on Near's side. For one thing, I found his emotionless persona to be cool and unique from most heroes in any series. For another, I really, really wanted to see Kira die, so...yeah. Despite this more favorable opinion of him, after I finished the anime, my love for Near was nowhere near (Death Note and its endless puns) what it is now.

In contrast, after I read the manga, I found myself much more invested in Near as a person. As I read the manga, layer after layer was added to the character of Nate River; by the end of it, Near was on the road to his current position as one of my favorite characters in any fictional work to date. After doing more analysis on him and discussing him with other DN fans on Quotev (thank you so much to all of those who analyze Death Note with me, I have so much fun during our debates about it and I've learned a lot of things), my adoration only increased. If I have to rank him in my favorite fictional characters (and believe me, I'm familiar with a lot of fiction, be it games, manga, anime, books, visual novels, you name it), Near would definitely be in my top ten.

I love that boy.

To put things in perspective, I'll begin with a list of similarities between Near's anime and manga portrayal (and I'm obviously speaking characteristics, not physical appearance):

1. His puzzle/toys obsession

2. His antisocial nature and complete lack of life skills

To be honest, that's pretty much all that I can recall that remains nearly identical between the anime version and manga version of Near.

Now, let's get into the differences.

1. His intelligence

Yes; Near is a clear genius in both the anime and the manga. However, the manga shows more examples of this. For one thing, Near's extremely complex explanations in the manga are nearly paragraphs of text long. The anime never shows him giving any such detailed analyses, which is probably part of the reason why there are those who complain that Near gets too much plot armor. For example, the infamous "figuring out who X-Kira is scene": I have to say, the anime utterly failed in that, if you ask me. The scene blatantly seems like filler and just completely unrealistic. I mean really - Near's eyes lighting up like his superpowers are being charged and hyperspace blurring behind him? Yeah...no. I can understand why that seems like plot armor. In contrast, the manga actually bothers to thoroughly explain Near's thought process and the evidence backing up his conclusion.

Also, there are two plans of Near's that are cut out from the anime (that I can remember):

- His plan to get the mafia to return the Death Note (if I remember correctly): (Confession time - I forgot the contents of this plan, aside from it requiring Light to pose as L and threaten the mafia somehow.) Obviously, coming up with plans takes intelligence, but Near appears to come up with this strategy on-the-spot, making it all the more impressive. Light cracks his own plan (that gets his dad killed, so touching) so it becomes immaterial, but it still shows the levels of Near's intelligence.

- His plan to get a member of the Task Force on his side: A.K.A. we see how badass Near is. He requests that a member of the Task Force meet with the SPK in person - that member turns out to be Mogi. As they talk, Demegawa unleashes the mob on the SPK's headquarters, cueing the "drop the money from the sky" scene. Now, this was a failed plan of Light's to take out Near and the SPK, but not only does Near counter this plan - he actually uses it for his own benefit. He orders Mogi to be bound and gagged to prevent him from making any noise, and when the Task Force contacts them to ask if everyone is safe, Near lies straight to their faces and says Mogi had a heart attack on the way to their new base - meaning, Kira is aware that Mogi is in the SPK's hands and is trying to prevent him from giving any information. Naturally, the only ones who know this are the Task Force and the SPK, which means that Kira is among the two groups. This is what ultimately leads Aizawa to ally himself with the SPK - the suspicion towards Light that reblossomed thanks to Near's machinations.

2. His snarkiness

So, in both the anime and the manga, Near has some snarky moments, though significantly more in the manga. However, in my opinion, the anime left out the most significant snark from Near in the series. When Light comments that the SPK members all died despite Near's best efforts (this was after Sayu's kidnapping, where Mello acquires the Death Note and kills most of the SPK), Near replies, "Yes...I was somewhat prepared for this the moment you handed over the notebook, but it sure does hurt." He throws the implied insult back at Light's face (who is the placeholder of L at that point in time). Near shows more willingness to take the initiative and be a little more aggressive in the manga (given the fact he snarked off at L the Second). In fact, the second one of the plans cut out of the manga that I mentioned earlier also shows this difference between anime and manga Near.

And now, we arrive at what is my biggest problem with Near's anime portrayal -

3. His humanity

I can actually understand why anime-only people saw Near as a soulless robot. The anime does not provide any show of emotion from him whatsoever unless you dig ridiculous deep into the situation to the point where you almost feel like you're reading too much into things. Near is not a robot - he is a human being, and on a human being, this is simply unrealistic. On the other hand, the manga cleverly throws in subtle nuances that lead you to question and analyze Near's softer sides without directly showing them to you. It adds a much more interesting spin to his character and makes you question what exactly caused him to become the way he is - all in all, the manga's portrayal makes Near much more interesting than the anime's.

Let's begin.

- The mass murder of most of the SPK

Alright, so Mello writes all the names of the SPK that he has access to, promptly killing them. In the anime, Near simply sits in his chair with a stone-cold expression, and doesn't look at all concerned as his colleagues literally fall to the ground, dead, around him. By contrast, in the manga, he actually looks pained. From the way his gaze is intently focused on the dice structure and his bothered expression, it's almost as if he doesn't want to look. Obviously, this makes for a much more relatable and realistic character in the eyes of the audience - showing visible pain at the death of his coworkers. It also makes you begin to think about Near's character specifically because he seemed so emotionless. We're introduced to Near and see how devoid of feeling he seems to be the first few chapters of his appearance, and then bam - he's clearly upset as his colleagues die. At least for me, it got me thinking about Near's more human sides

- His interactions with his subordinates

Near's interactions with the members of the SPK remain largely the same in the manga and the anime. In my opinion, though, two important scenes were cut out from the anime that adds a lot more to Near's character. For one, there's the scene where Near disbands the SPK officially and explains that they'll now have to operate as an underground organization. He goes on to warn his subordinates of how dangerous their positions will be should they choose to continue under his lead, as he will keep trying to catch Kira. This is significant to me because he actually offers them a way out. Going even further, he admits that he's afraid - "I'm scared, so I'm not going outside". This ability to understand and sympathize with the possible fears of those who work under him adds yet another layer of complexity to Near - he prefers to seem almost inhuman and strange and his behavior, but has no trouble admitting to a very human quality - fear. I should also add that this line is refreshingly vulnerable in a way, meaning that Near is close enough to and trusts his subordinates enough to drop the facade at least a little.

It also displays his capability to see through and grasp the perspective of others emotionally and not just pragmatically. This is something that I find Light, and to a lesser extent, L, to be lacking in. They can both accurately predict the next moves of their opponents by putting themselves in their foe's tactical situation and practical mindset, much like Near. However, unlike Near, they fail to do the same when it comes to more sentiment-based areas.

And the other interaction is when Near admits that Mello is dangerous, but he also remarks on his belief that his subordinates will be fine. "That may very well happen. But I have faith in your excellent skills."

As you can tell from this quote, Near praises his subordinates for their abilities. Unlike L or Light, who use the Task Force/Kira followers like chess pieces almost all of the time, Near allows his subordinates some freedom in their actions. Notice that he doesn't tell them exactly what to do should Mello try something - he simply states that people of their caliber will be able to get out of a difficult situation. This is very different from the condescending way that L and Light tend to treat people working under them. The Task Force/Kira's followers are older than L and Light, yet they treat them like children because they know that their intelligence is inferior in comparison to their own. This shows a blatant lack of respect. In contrast, Near, despite knowing this, respects his subordinates and holds them in high enough regard to give them free reign over such things. It may also be influenced by the fact that Near is aware that despite his ingenuity, he is still a teenage boy and his subordinates likely have more general life experience than he does. And we as humans tend to hold the opinions of our elders in high regard.

- His words about L

In the anime, Near doesn't say much about L at all. There's barely anything suggesting that he feels any kind of attachment to L - in fact, it seems as though he actually doesn't see L as all that great. In the manga, however, either Aizawa or Mogi calls Near out on his use of borderline illegal methods. His response is, "For Mello and I, L is the only person we adore, and the only person who deserves our respect. And the one person we respected was killed by Kira, so we're willing to use any methods necessary to defeat him...don't you think it's only natural for us to feel that way?"

This quote proves two things about Near. First, he did respect L. Second, it reflects on his humanity once again. Near is basically saying that it's only natural for himself and Mello to want revenge on Kira for killing the one person they respect. The desire for revenge is also a very human trait, and the fact that Near shows a deeper understanding of such matters says a lot about him.

- Speaking of everyone's contributions

In the anime, Near states that his victory is thanks to Mello. In the manga, he elaborates upon this, giving credit to the people who had a hand in defeating Kira and placing special emphasis on Mello - basically, he's indirectly thanking all of them. This is already interesting in itself, but what really stood out to me is the way Near dismisses any contribution he made to the case. Even though he provided the backbone for the defeat of Kira during Death Note's second arc (without his initial plan, nothing anyone else did would have meant jack shit), he gives himself no credit. He seems to place more value on his gratefulness towards the others for helping him rather than savoring the feeling of his own success, which is, to me, an admirable trait.

- His reaction when Light tries to write his name on a scrap of the Death Note

Light, sneaky little bastard that he is, managed to write 'Nate Rive' on the scrap of Death Note paper that he had hidden in his watch. One more letter and Near would have...you know, died. The thought is too painful.

We never do see Near's reaction to this in the anime, which I found almost offensive. Seriously, Near almost died and his reaction to his brush with the grim reaper isn't even shown? By contrast, the manga shows that he's alarmed. Though he regains his composure within the next few seconds, the single panel of his shocked expression was all that we needed. It's very understandable, as a human being, to fear death. The fact that Near showed surprise at the very least when he came close to meeting his end makes him more relatable.

And finally...

- Eating chocolate at the end of the manga

When working with the Task Force to solve a new case some time after Light's death, Near is seen playing with his toys and...eating a bar of chocolate. For one thing, this is an obvious way to honor and remember Mello. This alone is touching, as it shows that Near really does miss Mello and wish that he hadn't perished.

But recently, a friend of mine pointed something out that I hadn't thought about before (I love hearing her theories about Death Note, they're always so insightful and well thought-out, not to mention that talking to her is just enjoyable in general). Chocolate is a commonly known stress reliever, and Near is now the new L. Him eating chocolate at the end of the manga, in his new position, could be signifying that he is, understandably, like any sane person would be, stressed out. He now has to bear a considerable burden on his shoulders for the rest of his life as the new World's Greatest Detective.

So, there we have it, my rant analysis on my problems with the anime's portrayal of Near. Overall, the manga just made Near a more complex and interesting character. Thanks for reading.

#death note #near #nate river #death note analysis #near analysis #nate river analysis #this is all my opinion #l lawliet #light yagami #the task force #the spk

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