#there is a story in which riko is saved and heals from his past in the same way every other character does | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

orvillechubbybasas · 1 year

Text

30 best sad anime

Anime creators understand how to make us cry, with tons of anime that are created specifically for this purpose. There is no shortage of heartfelt dramas about young love, unrequited feelings and relationship drama or serious stories tackling issues like death, war, and illness. Heck, even shounen anime have tearjerker moments.

If you're in the mood to see people break down into tears, this list is for you. We have 30 sad anime recommendations that are guaranteed to make your eyes well up with salty fluid. There are countless other emotional anime out there, but these were our top picks!

01 Made in Abyss

During a descent to the depths of the mystical chasm, human child Riko and her humanoid friend Regu search for Riko's mother. It's like an open-world fantasy RPG that looks and sounds well made. However, Riko and Regu (and Ouzen and Nanachi) aren't playing a game of pure fun and adventure. Made in Abyss enters an insidious realm in a flash. Despite the temptation to return to the lighter sides of this sad anime series, you'd feel like you must watch for the characters' sake alone.

02 Violet Evergarden

The profound, moving, and overall beautiful anime, Violet Evergarden, will leave you destroyed by the end. Most people cite this one as a few that left them reaching for tissues to wipe their tears after watching it. The main character is raised specifically to be used against enemies, but when her wounds are healed at war's close, she has no purpose in life until she begins working as an Auto Memory Doll, which is someone who helps translate thoughts into words on paper.

03 YOUR LIE IN APRIL

Your Lie in April, a heartbreaking anime about music and healing from A-1 Pictures, follows Arima Kousei, a piano prodigy who lost his ability to hear the sound of the piano after his mother's death. Two years later, he meets Kaori Miyazono, a talented violinist who helps him see that playing freely is better than following strict rules taught by his late mom.

Through the anime, Kousei Arima finds that the point of music isn't just to hit each note perfectly (while falling in love with Kaori along the way). Sadly, Kaori's cheerfulness is just a cover for impending tragedy, much like its bright color palette. A deeply felt and heartbreaking tale of overcoming emotional trauma and moving forward, set to a stunning soundtrack, Your Lie in April is sure to make even the hardest of hearts cry.

04 ANGEL BEATS!

Angel Beats! begins with a boy named Otonosahi waking up only to realize he's dead. He is luckily saved by a girl carrying a rifle named Yuri, who tells him that he has arrived in the afterlife and that she is the leader of a rebellious battlefront against God and the student body president Angel who possesses supernatural powers. There is a point in the anime series when it isn't funny, and you forget what laughter is. Otonashi is confused by the morality of the battlefront's actions as they orchestrate and execute operations against Angel. Ultimately, Otonashi and Angel are able to find out the purpose of the afterlife school - letting those who have endured trauma and hardships in life move on. It's a tearjerker to watch their struggle to let go of the attachments to their past lives as they try to let go.

05 Death Parade

Death Parade is a 12-episode series about unmasking people and their true nature. If all you knew was its viral OP, it would seem to be gleeful with characters who love dancing. After death, there is no heaven or hell. Instead, the recently deceased are taken to a bar where they have to play random games with their fate being wagered on it by an attendant. The true nature of each person will be revealed in this ghastly parade where Decim awaits at Quindecim!

06 Assassination Classroom

Unlike other shows, this show slowly but surely moved beyond demonstrating Koro-Sensei's risible abilities and assassination attempts. We grew to love them in Season 2 as they changed so much together - bonding particularly with Koro-Sensei, whose backstory is also quite touching. As the students grow and become capable of killing Koro Sensei, we see the struggle and conflict of emotions as the kids decide whether to help or kill their beloved teacher.

07 Rumbling Hearts

There is a tragic event in the drama anime series Rumbling Hearts that complicates matters of young romance - and here, the situation is truly unique. Takayuki must choose between two women: The first is Haruka, his ex-girlfriend, who got into an accident that he blames on himself. Another is Mitsuki, who arranged the meeting in the first place and with whom he falls in love after Haruka's accident. Neither of them is intentionally trying to hurt the other, but they have to deal with the facts that they can't change.

08 Terror in Resonance

Terror in Resonance is the story of Nine and Twelve, two boys who are elusive figures known as Sphinx. The world may not understand them, but they exist with strong spirits that can make a whole city crumble around them if it means burying their own tragic truth.

One of Japan's nuclear facilities is the only thing left after a terrorist attack. The word "VON" is painted red in the aftermath. Sadly, the government was unable to act, leaving the police frantically seeking ways to punish the perpetrators. Six months later, the public discovers a strange video on the internet. Identified only as "Sphinx," two teenage boys threaten to destroy Tokyo with destruction and mayhem in the video. As the panic spreads throughout the city and the police are desperate for information, the police struggle to deal with these terrorists effectively, with Detective Kenjirou Shibazaki thrown into the middle of it all.

09 TOKYO MAGNITUDE 8.0

When a powerful earthquake hits Tokyo, two children find themselves struggling to reach their parents as they track their way home from an exhibition. The siblings are assisted by Mari, who is making her way to reunite with her daughter and mother. On the long journey back together, each of them finds comfort in those around him/herself - becoming family on some level. This film depicts how three strangers become one after experiencing tragedy during this horrific event.

10 March Comes in Like a Lion

In this film, March Comes in Like a Lion recognizes that psychosocial elements have the power to drastically impact lives, just as they can for good or bad. In some way, the studio translated the emotional and mental turmoil of the characters into visually stunning sequences. Next, there is the second season, which is even more powerful and emotional than the first. Rather than focusing on Rei (even though he's still present and better off), this episode focuses on other characters. For a good reason, Season 2 influenced many fans with its look at bullying. In addition to spending time with the bullied individual, the show also explores the reasons why someone can bully someone else, exploring the possibility that they have been bullied themselves, turning to bullying to cope with the pain. There are many other painful, emotional aspects of life in March Comes in Like a Lion.

11 Tokyo Revengers

Nakamichi returns to 12 years ago and relives his past. Intent on saving his ex-girlfriend from the hands of the Tokyo Majin Gang, he goes back and forth from past to present, trying to change the course of events. We follow Takemichi's struggles and turmoil, both as a student and an adult, in handling loss, death, and self-pity. The anime also gives us some of the saddest anime deaths of the same character.

12 5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND

5 Centimeters Per Second makes us feel for Makoto Shinkai's characters in a way that his other films do not. The film follows two close friends, Takaki Toono and Akari Shinohara, who keep drifting further apart as they go through life. Despite their efforts to stay in touch, they can't seem to meet again despite the growing distance between them. The title is a reference to the speed of cherry blossoms falling-a poetic metaphor about how people tend to naturally drift away from each other throughout life's natural progression.

13 Bokurano

Jun and the other kids shouldn't have to feel like the fate of the world is in their hands, but that's exactly the situation they're in. One of the kids who accepted Kokopelli's contract must pilot the robot Zearth for each enemy. They will die if they win (and save the Earth from danger). The mecha will feed on the life of its pilot in exchange for using Zearth. No one, especially children, should make such a sacrifice. Is it even possible that they want to save everyone? It places children in traumatic situations, revealing their life perspectives and what they value most.

14 Wolf's Rain

When you watch Wolf's Rain, it feels like breaking up with a long-term partner. Except the show doesn't give you room to breathe as one heartbreaking moment is piled on top of another at the end when they finally reach their destination, and all that viewers want for them now is paradise. In the story, a lone wolf named Kiba is lured to Freeze City, an impoverished town ruled by the callous Lord Orkham, by an intoxicating scent. Kiba finds that the same aroma has drawn in the wolves Hige, Tsume, and Toboe. The wolves set out on a journey across desolate landscapes and crumbling cities to find their legendary promised land after smelling the fragrance of the "Lunar Flowers," which is said to open the door to their ideal world. Although they are seeking paradise, others with more sinister intentions will do anything to attain it first.

15 Elfen Lied

Elfen Lied is known to be quite depressing. The show has a horrific scene of animal abuse early on; if that would cause you heartbreak, it may not be for you. The series follows Lucy, who is one of two types: Diclonius and human (of which she's unaware). She becomes the victim in several scientific experiments, which eventually leave her with split personalities after killing everyone around her except Nana--her other personality protects Kouta while at high-risk/violence mode until near death, where she loses control again before being shot by scientists bringing about their end as well.

16 Searching for the Full Moon

Mitsuki Kouyama is the protagonist of Searching for the Full Moon. With her childhood friend Eichi Sakurai, she vowed to fulfill her dream of becoming a professional singer. However, she has throat cancer, and the shinigami came by and told her she will only live another year. Despite the fact that it courageously confronted death (and even suicide), "Searching for the Full Moon" went above and beyond expectations. Viewers experienced a full spectrum of emotions, making her journey all the more meaningful.

17 We were there

The aesthetic of We Were There was plain, to say the least. Nevertheless, the series is a fan favorite romance anime partly thanks to its clean & bare visuals. The show has 26 episodes. If it doesn't have a second season, many of us will never feel fulfilled (unless we read the manga). It's something about the way their eyes tell you that they're concealing a secret (or desperately trying to forget) someone. Motoharu and Nanami, as well as Masafumi and Yuri, all do their part in the shoujo tropes, which are effectively executed. Tragic events do occur. But We were there is also a beautiful story of teenage love, filled with the familiar joys and pains of teenage life as well as soothing yet sad music.

18 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: BROTHERHOOD

There are few stories that can keep audiences glued to their seats as much as Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. It's a story about two brothers who attempt human transmutation in order to bring back their deceased mother. The younger brother loses his entire body, and the older one has no choice but to lose part of his arms and legs during this process. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a story of love, tragedy and magic. The anime features many different stories that will make your blood chill and your eyes tear up.

19 Scum's Wish

Scum's Wish is a dark and uncomfortable anime about unrequited love. It starts out as something sweet but quickly becomes very ugly when the characters are relentlessly trampled on until they become trash themselves. Hanabi Yasuraoka and Mugi Awaya, according to the outside world, are the ideal couple. Yet, they both have a secret pain: they both love someone they cannot have. Hanabi has always loved Narumi Kanai, her childhood friend and neighbor, so she is delighted to discover that he will be her new homeroom teacher. However, Narumi is quickly noticed by the music teacher, Akane Minagawa, and a romance blossoms between them, much to Hanabi's chagrin. Mugi has been in love with Akane ever since she tutored her in middle school. Through a chance meeting in the hallway, he comes into contact with Hanabi. After spending more time together, these two people realize they are both lonely. As a result, they decide to use each other as a substitute for the person they truly love, sharing physical intimacy in an attempt to cope with their loneliness.

20 Plastic Memories

Watching the protagonist come to terms with his time running out is what makes Plastic Memories so interesting. The show gives viewers a bracing dose of reality and how things aren't forever, but it also shows us why we fight for our loved ones no matter their form or lifespan; you never know when your last day will be together.

21 A SILENT VOICE

A Silent Voice from Kyoto Animation is a somewhat grim anime film, but that's actually to its advantage. You won't feel comfortable watching this movie. You're meant to feel what the characters on screen feel, and it does its job well. The story focuses on Shouko, a deaf girl who was constantly harassed by her peers in elementary school to the point where she had to transfer schools several times. Additionally, it is also about Shouya, the bullying pupil of Shoko, who later becomes the target of bullying himself. In the third year of Shouya's high school career, haunted by his past mistakes and regretting his choices, he vows to undergo a journey of redemption. In an effort to make amends, he finds Shouko again. A Silent Voice is heartfelt and moving, yet also hauntingly unsettling. It will take you on an emotional rollercoaster.

22 STEINS;GATE

Although Steins;Gate is not a sad anime, it still has a heartbreaking narrative line. This story is about Okabe Rintarou, a self-proclaimed insane scientist who discovers that he has the power to change the past by sending Dmails (D stands for dimension). They realize that this leads to a lot of problems after they use these dmails to mess with time.

Okabe must race against time to save his childhood friend Mayuri and ends up watching her die repeatedly. Eventually, he is forced to choose between Mayuri and Makise Kurisu - a girl who has been helping him all this time as well as a girl he has been in love with. Watching Okabe fail over and over is overwhelming for anyone; it can especially be difficult when you fall in love with someone on your journey there, too.

23 Japan Sinks: 2020

Japan Sinks: 2020 went well beyond the disaster, examining socio-political elements that are still being discussed in Japan today. It illustrates the devastating effects of earthquakes that there is more to it than one big earthquake. There are aftershocks, and you may experience landslides, fires, automobile accidents, flooding, or even deadly stampedes. Simply watching the first two episodes reveals how unforgiving the world is. It's hard to imagine that death can be just around the corner while those you care about may not even have time to grieve. The anime also exposes the cruel and treacherous sides of humanity with its depiction of discrimination, racism, and human cruelty.

24 Rainbow

The show Rainbow makes a powerful point about prison reform and prisoners' rights, especially when it comes to teenagers who are lawbreakers. While the anime is cruel, it is needed this way. Prisons do not always serve their intended purpose, despite what many people want to think. The prison system is a topic that's often discussed in documentaries, whether in developed or developing countries. Rainbow reminds audiences that political, social, or even sexual power can be abused by figures of authority and that not everyone behind bars is a morally deplorable human being - some have moral values greater than the guards and doctors tasked with reforming them.

25 Now and Then, Here and There

Now and Then, Here and There is a dark anime that has a character who is thrown into the middle of an apocalyptic desert world where there are no laws. It's disheartening to see how many times Shuuzou gets back up despite being in so much pain, but it shows us just how strong he can be even when faced with all these odds against him. Now and Then, Here and There contains lots of violence along with torture as well as murder which isn't suitable for children at all!

26 Serial Experiments Lain

This psychological avant-garde mystery series follows Lain as she makes decisions that will impact both real and virtual worlds. Only Lain will understand the significance of their presence after closing one world and opening another. While Lain struggles with concepts such as self-identity, belonging, and determining what is real, she is also facing loneliness, family issues, and cultural stigmas that continue to haunt Japan (and other societies) today.

27 CLANNAD

The anime series Clannad is sad but also focuses on the importance of family. It has two seasons: twenty-three episodes for season one and twenty-four in season 2, where it shows how relationships change when faced with new challenges that come into adulthood. In this anime, we are able to watch a character's entire life instead of just seeing him or her graduate high school or tie the knot. Clannad doesn't pull any punches, however. The experience will leave you in tears and with a broken heart.

28 Welcome to the NHK

Welcome to the NHK is about a NEET named Tatsuhiro Satou who has all but given up on life in the real world. In meeting Misaki, he embarks on a journey that is both agonizing and ultimately necessary for individual progress. This film is tough to watch, but it's one that everyone should watch, not just NEETs or people like me. The purpose of this contribution is to inspire NEETs, and NEET-like individuals, to try and break free from the cages they have created, both for themselves.

29 GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES

There are few emotional anime movies as heartbreaking as Grave of the Fireflies. A character named Seita and his sister Setsuko have been displaced from their home and their parents due to a brutal war that took the lives of both of them. The story is set in the final days of World War II when the war has destroyed their family.

With no one to turn to in their impoverished homeland, the siblings' youthful optimism blinds them in the face of immense hardship, so they can attempt to resist fate. A Studio Ghibli film that is at once painfully sad, beautifully moving, and profoundly beautiful, Grave of the Fireflies is sure to leave everyone teary.

30 ANOHANA: THE FLOWER WE SAW THAT DAY

If you want to cry for eleven episodes straight, check this one out. Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day is an anime from A-1 Pictures that aired in spring 2011. This sad anime series tells the story of six teenagers coping with loss after their friend Menma died when they were kids.

The group of friends has drifted apart over the past five years, but the ghost of Menma might be enough to bring them back together. As they reunite, Menma is able to fulfill her wish and move on, while at the same time, her friends receive the closure they need to move on without her. Our main characters in the story struggle with their own guilt and inability to cope after Menma's passing. It is a touching, tear-jerking experience not to be missed.

There you have it, anime fans. We hope you enjoyed this list of some of the saddest animes the anime industry has to offer. If we missed your favorite, let us know in the comments, and we'll add it to our next post! Which one is your favorite?

#Sad anime List content anime

1 note · View note

codename-adler · 3 years

Text

...dance 'til you find someone to die for...

What if instead of Seth, Riko tried to get rid of Aaron?

Chapter 13 ♟️ [table of contents]

(CW: mentioned/referenced/implied past abuse, minor talk of injuries, disability awareness + inaccuracies, swearing, alcoholism, mental health issues, medical inaccuracies)

The week leading up to the Ravens game right here at PSU had Aaron’s guts twist on themselves every time he thinks about these bastards walking into their territory, as if his insides hadn’t been through enough.

He hated it.

Once he was out of medical danger and his organs didn’t threaten to burst open, Aaron agreed to move out of the hospital and seek refuge at Abby’s place.

He hated it.

At the start of the summer, Aaron had seen the way Neil moved around Wymack, and had immediately understood why. However, Wymack had organized himself around Neil’s 'special needs’, while Abby here didn’t seem to catch on that while Aaron was, very deep down, grateful for her interventions since the beginning of this whole horror story, he still couldn’t consider her someone safe to be around.

He still had his mother’s picture that Kevin gave him buried under his pillow, and her ghost seemed to reopen wounds too young to have healed and to steal the face of any woman nearing her age. Abby had a healthy body, a healthy and focused face, short brown hair, and she was no more than 3 inches taller than Aaron. She was nothing like Tilda Minyard, who was a skeleton at best, foggy eyed and haunted face, dirty blonde hair down to her waist, and towering 6 or 7 inches over Aaron. Even so. Aaron would have preferred to steal Coach’s couch and mess up his stitches rather than spend one more week in the nurse’s lovely home.

He understood why going back to his dorm wasn’t a safe option and why it was technically impossible, what with its non wheelchair-friendly amenities. Yeah. Like Aaron wasn’t short enough as it is, he now had to move around in a stupid wheelchair that made him look even smaller. Walking on his own 2 feet was too soon and put his recovering organs and bones at too great a risk, even with the constricting and painful rib brace he had to wear all the time.

In the house, he could walk while sitting down in the chair, in a pace that made him look utterly stupid, but still, he could manage on his own. If Aaron wanted to go out, though, he had to be accompanied by someone to push him around, because using his arms or his legs would mess up his guts too much.

Needless to say, Aaron never went out.

Nicky came by every free period he had and tried to rope him into going to the park (after all, a wheelchair isn’t so different from a skateboard, Aaron, imagine the tricks you could do, but Aaron had almost stood up to slap him when he’d said that, so Nicky abandoned that tactic), yet Aaron always refused. Sometimes Andrew dropped by to bring him extra notes from the classes he pretended to attend in Aaron’s place, which confused his teachers more than it helped Aaron, but he didn’t say a word about that, secretly glad his brother hadn’t forgotten about his existence. Aaron didn’t do much except hide in Abby’s guest room, and study. Most of all, he thought about Exy.

About how he’d started playing to escape, and how he was now stuck away from it, because it had put a target on his back. About how he’d started to escape and find something for himself, and how his family now played on while he was left behind. About how he’d have to watch from the sidelines as the Ravens tore into the Foxes, into Kevin.

And he thought about Kevin so much, too. Because you couldn’t think about Exy without thinking about its son.

With Aaron out of service, Kevin had no more incentive not to drink; only Andrew and fucking Josten could save him now. To add even more to that stress, Aaron guilted over the fact that he didn’t know which of one his thoughts was worse: wondering if, wishing that his absence on the court would cost the Foxes their victory against the Ravens, or believing, fearing that his absence on the court would benefit the Foxes and help them win against the Ravens. He wanted to ask Nicky, he wanted to ask Kevin if the jerk could show his face, but he didn’t really want to know the answer. He kind of knew it already. Only the game on Friday would confirm or deny it.

That is what Aaron thought about the most. Not his injuries, not his brother, not Riko or Kevin, or school; this, his place on the team.

Aaron had never thought about going pro, he’d never wished to be praised by the world of Exy, he’d never hoped to make a difference, to change the course of history, to be remembered. He hated Exy, and that was that

But wasn’t there a part of passion in hatred?

Hadn’t Exy made itself the center of his world, somehow?

Hadn’t Aaron himself made Exy the center of his world?

He pushed the nagging questions away as a knock on the door startled him.

“Aaron, Kevin is here to see you. Will you come out?” Abby asked him through the door, her voice muffled.

Fucking shit.

Kevin had not seen him since he got out of the hospital. He had not seen him in the wheelchair. He had not seen him this vulnerable, in this toneless, weak and broken body, withering away as the days went by. It was different than in the hospital, where the sheets and tubes hid most of the damage. It was different than when he was at the peak of danger, when his body fought every second, when it was apparent than the beating had just occurred.

Now…

Now he was supposed to be getting better. He was supposed to gain back what he’d lost. And Aaron felt like he was still losing.

The bedroom door opened without Aaron answering Abby’s question, and Kevin entered. Aaron felt shame coloring his cheeks. There was the big and great Kevin Day, and here he was, small and pathetic in his chair. Aaron clenched his jaw and stubbornly fixed his eyes on the carpet.

Kevin wanted to shake him out of it.

“Abby called me. Said you were being…” a little bitch, Kevin almost said. “…Difficult.”

Aaron refused to look up still.

“And you just… came?” Aaron mumbled, mentally wincing at the innuendo he’d made.

Kevin didn’t pick up on it.

“Yes. Let’s get out of here,” Kevin stated without hesitation.

Aaron froze.

“Kevin… No.”

That made Kevin turn around.

“...Why?” he asked.

“I… can’t. Not in… this.”

“I don’t see what’s the problem with you being in a wheelchair,” Kevin replied.

“No? You don’t see the problem? You don’t? LOOK AT ME. I can’t go anywhere on my own! I’m losing all the strength that I have, and I can’t do shit about it! I need someone to push me around if I want to do a goddamn thing! Tell me again how you don’t see what the problem is!” Aaron suddenly yelled as he looked up.

Kevin stared at him for a few seconds.

“So, what… You don’t think I can do it?” Kevin asked.

“You- What?” Aaron stammered

“You think I can’t drive you around? You’re scared I’ll make you crash or something?”

“No? I just-” Aaron tried to explain

“Well then shut the fuck up.”

That was the end of it for Kevin, for he walked around Aaron and started wheeling him out of the room. Aaron was too stunned and fuming to ask where Kevin was taking him. It wasn’t until Kevin had been walking for a while and Aaron could see a familiar green hill that he realized where they were heading.

“Seriously, Kevin? You fucking asshole. Did Nicky put you up to this? It’s not fucking funny!” Aaron yelled at him once again.

“What? Nicky said you liked it here!” Kevin yelled back this time.

“Yeah, when I have my skateboard! And since when do you listen to anything Nicky says?”

“Wait, your skate- You actually skate here?”

“Yes! What do you think I was doing with a board in our dorm? And where do you think I went every time I wasn’t there?” Aaron prompted, pissed.

“Well… I thought it was just a souvenir you carried around… And usually you’re studying all the time, so…” Kevin answered, embarrassed.

“Oh my fucking- I’m not a that much of a fucking nerd! I do plenty of things you have no idea of… Just because it’s not Exy doesn’t mean it’s meaningless. And I do have to study a lot more that you, dipshit! Doesn’t mean I have no life or ambition…” Aaron said, subtly voicing many of his insecurities without meaning to.

“Stop moving around so much, you’re gonna break something, another rib, most likely. Also, I never said anything about your studies or skating, so fuck you for that,” Kevin replied.

“But you believe those things. Same difference,” Aaron muttered.

Kevin didn’t answer this time, because Aaron was too stubborn to believe anything else, so he just continued wheeling Aaron up the hill so they could watch the skate park. When Kevin made a move to let go of Aaron’s chair at the top of the hill, he earned himself another earful.

“KEVIN! You need to put the breaks on, Jesus fuck! You moron! Have you finally joined in on Seth’s plan to get rid of me or what?” Aaron spat.

“I’m SORRY! I forgot! Will you stop fucking yelling for two seconds? I’m trying to be nice here,” Kevin spat back.

“…Why?”

That took Kevin aback. Several minutes passed before he answered.

“Because… Our deal. You’re not at our dorm anymore. You’re not there anymore. And we’ll be facing the Ravens in like, four days. I don’t think I’ve spent a day without drinking. I can’t help it. I can’t stand it, I can’t stand myself, I can’t stand the world. If you’re not there… I have nothing to stop me. I’ve been wanting a drink all afternoon. So I’m here. I can’t drink, here.”

“Yes you can.”

“No, I can’t. I promised,” Kevin shot back without missing a beat.

“Kevin. I can’t walk. I can’t even stand up. I’m useless. I told you, our deal is worthless now,” Aaron carried on.

“It’s not. Not to me.”

Aaron looked up at Kevin, who had walked around to stand in front of him.

“I want to stop drinking, Aaron. I want to keep our deal. It doesn’t matter to me that we’re having a temporary setback. I need your help, I need our deal, because I want to be better. So now it’s my turn to give you something, to keep this. What do you want?” Kevin asked.

What do you want?

What do you want, Aaron?

“A friend.”

Kevin looked surprised, if not horrified.

“I’m…” Kevin started.

I’m not the right person for this.

I’m an asshole.

I’m a drunk.

I’m gonna fuck it up.

I’m not used to that.

I don’t know how.

You won’t like me if you know me.

You shouldn’t ask me that.

You should pick someone else.

Someone better.

Someone worthy.

“Okay,” Kevin decided.

“Now, if 'the friend’ could help me out of this fucking chair, that’d be great,” Aaron said to diffuse the tension.

His words only created more very tensed actions. Aaron couldn’t put weight on his upper body, couldn’t push it, so he had to rely on all of Kevin’s strength to get up. Kevin went to Aaron’s right side and took the man’s arm to place it around his waist, holding it there with his right hand. Kevin placed his other arm under Aaron’s, careful to grip the rib brace and not under it, where Aaron’s guts were still healing. He counted back from 3 and on 1, he used all his strength to lift Aaron up into a standing position. Holding Aaron with everything that he had, Kevin slowly moved away from the chair. The grass underneath their feet was lush and soft, enough to be a cushion for Aaron’s body.

“Ready to sit down?” Kevin asked instead of asking the real question bothering him, the ever unhelpful Are you okay?

“Fucking get on with it already,” Aaron muttered between clenched teeth.

As Kevin lowered them to the ground, he felt Aaron’s body tense and looked at his face in time to see his features scrunching up in a wince.

“Sorry! I’m sorry, we’re almost there, sorry, so-”

“I’m okay. Just put me down.”

Kevin did, then carefully placed his hand on Aaron’s back to make him rest in the grass, his other hand still holding on to Aaron’s where it gripped his waist. Once he was lying down, looking up at the blue sky, Aaron exhaled. Somehow he could breathe better. It had nothing to do with the chair or the grass or the sky. Kevin lay down beside him after a while, turning his face to look at Aaron’s.

“What,” Aaron said without tearing his eyes away from the sky.

“I want you to come back to the dorms.”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but that wheelchair over there isn’t exactly a choice. How do you plan on getting me up the stairs of Fox Tower, huh? I’m not a fucking baby you can put in a chest carrier, Kevin. I have to stay at Abby’s,” Aaron said.

“I know… But it sucks. How am I supposed to stay sober when every time I want to drink, which is always, you’re not there?” Kevin replied.

“You can’t put your whole sobriety into my hands like that, Kevin…”

“I know, I know. But it’s a start, and… If I don’t start now, I won’t ever. This deal holds me accountable. And you know I can’t be seen in AA meetings, even if the whole point of those is the 'anonymity’. I- It’s all I can manage right now, Aaron. And I’m sure I’ll mess up and I know I will drink anyways one day or another, but… I’m tired, Aaron. There must be a way to make this work, to make this easier… Please.”

Aaron turned his face to stare at him, then.

That word.

How foreign it was.

How strange it sounded from the mouth of Kevin Day.

“Fine. Follow a schedule, then. You’re insanely obsessive of those, aren’t you? Then do that. Go to practice. Go to class. Go back to practice. And when you’re done, when you’re free, come back here. Anytime you feel like drinking, come here. Abby can help too. She cares for you, I hope you’ve noticed that. And you can get me out of there, too. That’ll please Abby. And me. So, do that. We’ll do that, okay?”

Kevin closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. The air smelled of the sun, of grass, of leaves, of herbal shampoo, of Aaron…

Kevin sighed and opened his eyes to look back at Aaron.

“Okay.”

(read on Ao3 here !)

51 notes · View notes

andrew-is-foxy · 4 years

Text

Andreil Soulmate AU (chapter 1)

Andrew thought soulmates were bogus and a waste of time, especially when his soulmate’s first word’s to him were going to be: ‘are you my soulmate?’ What kind of idiot goes around asking people that? Apparently, the kind of idiot who is a fugitive and long lost friend of his roommate. Neil Josten, a witness to a crime and a runaway since he was eight, comes to their dorm room begging for a few nights shelter after the death of his mother leaves him rattled.

Neil had felt premature guilt for years that one day he was going to meet his soulmate and then have to leave them heartbroken and lonely for the rest of their lives. Neil was destined to be alone, running, never found, for the rest of his life. Wasn’t he? It didn’t matter that the words ‘you must be the little rabbit’ were tattooed around his ankle like a bracelet.

TW: Allusions to Andrew’s childhood (Drake/etc from canon). Abuse from foster parents and Neil’s mom. Crime families and violence and stuff. Word count: 3.8k

The fact that the first words Andrew’s soulmate will say to him will be ‘Are you my soulmate?’ pissed Andrew off. What kind of fucking weirdo goes around asking random people if they’re their soulmate? Desperate, lonely, stupid idiots, that’s who, and Andrew didn’t want someone like that to be his soulmate. The fact that he even had a soulmate was absolutely laughable. He didn’t like, or trust, anyone, how on earth was he supposed to have a soulmate. He tolerated his brother, he put up with his cousin, he was stuck with Kevin because they were roommates at college, but apart from Renee at his martial arts studio, that was the extent of Andrew’s social circle. All four of those people knew how much Andrew already hated his soulmate. Why couldn’t he have something nice, like Nicky’s who’s tattoo on his forearm said ‘welcome home Nicky,’ or something classic like Kevin’s which said ‘you’re in my way pipsqueak.’ Thea was the only one allowed to call Kevin pipsqueak. Aaron’s tattoo was nearly as stupid as Andrew’s, nearly, with ‘can I borrow a pen?’ All three of them had already met their soulmates and were all gooey and happy about it, no matter how long they’d been together. It made Andrew’s skin crawl. Was he supposed to just, hand his life over to the dropkick asking everyone if they’re their soulmate? He thought the fuck not.

His only saving grace was that Renee also hadn’t found her soulmate yet and was happy to let him bitch and moan about the entire thing. He knew that when she heard someone say ‘I love your hair, it’s so sweet!’ that she wouldn’t want him ranting about how shitty the soulmate system was. At least, and this was the thought that helped Andrew sleep at night, if he had a soulmate then he had a soul. Some people, like his foster brother Drake, didn’t have soulmate marks because they didn’t have a soul. Andrew wasn’t like that.

***

Neil’s soulmate mark was written in neat, small font around his ankle. If you didn’t know it was there, you missed it, or just waved it off as an anklet or the top of his sock. Neil knew it was there, had known since he seven years old when it arrived. Neil wasn’t really sure what to make of it, even at eighteen years old, but he found himself touching it every now and again. His mom had tried cutting it from his skin when they were on the run, Neil had only been ten years old then. She’d told him it was dangerous. That soulmates would be their downfall. Neil believed her, seeing as though Mary’s soulmate was the person they were running from. Still, Neil’s soulmate mark returned the minute the cut on his ankle had healed. Mary tried twice more to cut it off, went as far as trying to burn it away, but it always came back. The skin was marred and scarred beneath it, but Neil knew what it said. ‘You must be the little rabbit.’ When he finally heard those words, he would have to tell his soulmate no, they didn’t know him and they never would. He might also make a point to tell the person he didn’t like being called a little rabbit. Whoever she was, he hoped he could apologise to her before he skipped town, because no on deserved him as a soulmate. The only issue was, Neil had nowhere else to run. He watched the flames eat away at the car, at the remains of his mom inside, and he knew he had nowhere else to go. He had to go. He’d die if he didn’t. But where could he go? He could ring his uncle, but that would defeat the purpose of running from the underbelly of crime. Or he could ring Kevin Day. They’d been friends when they were children, their families intertwined in drugs and murder, on the same side of a blood feud. He’d seen Kevin’s face on the news a few times since Neil’s mother had nabbed him and run. Kevin’s most recent appearance had been to congratulate him on his freshman year of college. A feel good story about the man he’d become after being rescued from the crime world by his father, David Wymack, a few years ago. The interviewed had asked Kevin about his childhood best friend, Nathaniel Wesninski. The boy who’d disappeared when he was eight, missing presumed dead. Maybe it was time for Nathaniel Wesninski to not be dead, just for a night or two. He could ask that of Kevin, his disappearance had saved his life too. If Neil had stayed, if Nathaniel hadn’t disappeared, Riko and his uncle would have killed them both. Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead. Kevin would take Riko’s secret to the grave, and they already though Neil was there.

After burying his mother’s bones in the sand, Neil threw his phone into the ocean and made one more call on his mom’s before depositing of that one as well. “Kevin? You kept this number?”

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Number three,” Neil whispered. There was a long pause before Kevin replied, voice barely audible.

“Nathaniel?”

“Call me Neil before we both get murdered. Neil Josten.”

“What? I thought you were dead?” Kevin said.

“Not dead. Running.”

“For eight years?” Kevin sounded like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Neil was barely holding himself together as grief and shock, fear and desperation ate a hole in his stomach.

“Yes Kevin, for eight years.”

“What are you doing?” Kevin asked, sounding scared himself. Neil swallowed and bit his cheek, staring at the smouldering car.

“I’m staying with you, for a few nights. You’re at Palmetto state right? I’ll be there tomorrow.”

“Natha- Neil no! You can’t come here! They’ll find you! They’ll kill us!” Kevin pleaded.

“I have nowhere else to go Kevin, and you owe me eight years of being dead. We’d already be dead if Riko and Tetsuji knew I was alive. My father already executed my mother.” Neil deadpanned.

“Fucking hell Neil,” Kevin breathed. “I’m in the building on the hill, room 401.” Neil hung up the phone and threw it into the ocean and left the beach. It would take all night to get to Palmetto state if he managed to hitch a ride. Neil could only hope.

***

Andrew didn’t like the look on Kevin’s face when he resurfaced from their bedroom after taking a phone call. He looked pale and flighty, and like one wrong move would make him throw up. Andrew kept at least three metres of space between them as Neil went and sank into the couch, head in his hands. “Who died?” Andrew asked. Kevin flinched and Andrew wondered if someone had actually died.

“Nobody, kind of the opposite actually,” Kevin replied. Andrew frowned at him.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Kevin rubbed his face before lowering his hands. “Can I trust you? Like actually trust you? I know you’ve told me I can, and you know where I come from, but this is serious.” Kevin was staring hard at Andrew as if by staring at him alone, he’ll find his answer. Andrew did know of Kevin’s past, every gross, gory, bloody, cruel part of it. He knew he was in all sorts of danger being his roommate, but this demand for trust didn’t scare him or even worry him. He was curious.

“Yeah, you can trust me,” Andrew said, leaning back in his desk chair and throwing his cigarette out the window. Kevin sighed and straightened up.

“Well, how do you feel about housing a fugitive for a few nights?” Kevin asked, voice even. Andrew felt his eyebrows go up and he wondered if the appropriate response would be to laugh.

“Who is it?”

“Call him Neil Josten, he’s been running from the law and Riko’s family for a very, very long time,” Kevin answered. Andrew’s lips quirked and he shrugged at Kevin.

“Sounds interesting,” he decided. Kevin just shook his head and looked blearily at Andrew.

“Sounds like a really, really bad idea.”

“Why are we housing him?” Andrew asked, crossing his leg over his knee. Kevin winced at the question.

“Because I’d be dead if his mother hadn’t run off with him,” Kevin admitted. Those words sparked a memory in Andrew’s mind and he pieced the puzzle together. Kevin’s best friend from childhood and his mother had disappeared when they were young, presumed dead. Why his disappearance had saved Kevin’s life, Andrew couldn’t guess, and he didn’t like not knowing.

“Why did Nathan Wesninski’s disappearance have anything to do with your life?” Andrew asked. Kevin flinched, hard, and looked at his hands in his lap.

“Don’t say his name, nobody can know it’s him,” Kevin pleaded. Andrew shrugged, disinterested in the semantics of his name. “He and I witnessed Riko and Tetsuji murder a heap of innocent people when we were little. I was ten, he was eight. His dad worked for the Moriyamas, and I obviously lived with them, but us witnessing what they did to those people… it was unforgivable. If his mom hadn’t taken him and let everyone assume he was dead, we’d have both been executed as loose ends. As it was, just me being left was apparently bearable and they let me live.”

“Because you were loyal to Riko?” Andrew guessed, but he knew he was right. Kevin nodded.

“Exactly, we were only ten but I was already ready to die for him. Na- Neil… he wasn’t, he was just a thug’s kid. He was nobody, he was a risk, and a risk that had the potential to goad me into talking one day. So when he disappeared, and I had no one except Riko to tell me what to do, well…”

“They let it go.”

“Yeah.”

“But he’s not dead, so this is all a big shit show,” Andrew summarised. Kevin nodded. “So he’s gonna crash here, sort some shit out, and disappear again?”

“Fuck I hope so,” Kevin groaned.

“Easy enough,” Andrew decided, getting out another cigarette and lighting it. “I’ve got a shift at the club in an hour,” he added.

“Neil will get here tomorrow sometime,” Kevin said, answering Andrew’s unasked question. Andrew didn’t respond, just turned in his chair to look out the window and smoke his cigarette. Hopefully this little rabbit, running, running, running, isn’t more trouble than he’s worth. At least, Andrew thought, this might make the rest of the week a little more interesting.

***

Neil was exhausted down to his bones when he climbed from the cab that had taken him from the nearest truck stop to the campus. He paid the cabbie and eyed the campus as the sun rose over it. At his back was the tower on the hill that Kevin lived in, in front of him was a large, old, sprawling campus with very few people wandering around. Neil supposed it was too early on a Saturday for the campus to be crowded, which did him a favour. He turned on his heel and trudged up the hill to the building, using the stairs to the fourth floor after finding the elevator needed a student ID to let you use it. Neil felt dead on his feet, but he managed to knock on the dorm room door. It swung open under his knock and Neil came face to face with a blonde man a few inches shorter than himself. He had mismatched socks, one with foxes and one with pandas, and rips all up his jeans to the point Neil idly wondered if there was any point to be wearing them at all. His shirt was a see through gauzy netting, pulled tight over his broad chest and biceps, black armband covering his arms from wrist to elbow. The black nail polish on his nails was chipped, the black eyeliner on his eyes smudged and he looked exhausted, like he hadn’t slept all night. Judging by his outfit, he probably hadn’t. Neil knew the feeling. What he hadn’t expected was the small, sadistic smile that spread across this man’s face. “You must be the little rabbit,” he said, voice gravelly and a little hoarse like he’d been yelling all night. Neil was too tired to hear those words, but that didn’t stop them from registering and his mouth fell open. He stared at the man, eyes roving over him again. This was a man. A very attractive man, yes, but a man nonetheless. Neil hadn’t expected that, although, he supposed he’d never been able to picture his soulmate as a girl either. The man’s eyebrows lifted in question, almost judgement.

“Are you my soulmate?” Neil blurted, and then sighed and shook his head. “Scratch that, I don’t care right now. If this is Kevin’s room, let me in.” Neil didn’t miss the way the blonde’s hand had tightened on the door handle, making it squeak, as his body went entirely still.

“The fuck did you just say to me?” He demanded, voice dangerously low. Neil ignored the threatening tone in his voice. This man wasn’t scary, he was shorter than Neil and had glitter in his hair.

“I said to let me in.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” he snarled. Neil rolled his eyes and took a step closer, standing in the doorway. There were a few inches of space between them, and Neil raised his eyebrow. The man stared him down for a moment, calculating his options, and then stepped aside.

“Are you Kevin’s fuck buddy or something?” He asked once inside, eyeing the man’s outfit again.

“Fuck no, he’s my roommate.”

“Kevin’s kind of gay though, right? Like, I guessed that long ago,” Neil said, looking around the small kitchen, living room space he’d walked into. There was a hall with one closed door and one open door that looked like a bathroom.

“What if I’m not gay?” The roommate asked, standing in the kitchen. Neil looked at him and raised his eyebrows again.

“The whole soulmate thing gave it away,” Neil told him. Blondie rolled his eyes. “And the shirt,” he added.

“I get better tips when I wear it,” he said, stretching his arms above his head so that the meshy material shimmered and stretched over his flexing muscles. Neil watched, feeling interested and kind of detached. If he was supposed to be swooning, it wasn’t working.

“You work at a club?” Neil guessed, and blondie nodded. “Do you have a name?”

“Do you?”

“Which one do you want?” Neil asked, too tired to care much. Besides, the challenge in the other man’s voice and the way he’d said ‘little rabbit’ made Neil suspect he knew the situation. The blonde guy seemed to appreciate the somewhat of honesty in Neil’s response.

“It doesn’t matter, Kevin gave me both. I’ll call you Neil because it will keep him safer,” mesh shirt responded.

“Not because that’s what I prefer to be called?”

“What you want doesn’t factor into my decisions at all, little rabbit,” he said.

“Well that bodes well for the soulmate thing,” Neil said. He snarled at him and closed the space between them in two quick strides, grabbing Neil’s hoodie and shoving him against the wall. He was pinned and couldn’t fight back, but he found the hazel eyed boy to be less scary than he clearly thought he was. “Problem?” He asked, fluttering his eyelashes at him in an overly dramatic way. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he was screaming at the loss of his mom and he was terrified for his life and he knew taunting this man was a sure way to ruin everything he’d worked so hard for. But Neil was tired, he wanted to sit down, he even wanted to cry. Having a muscled blonde manhandle him was the least of his worries, plus it didn’t seem like he wanted to kill him, and outside of this room, there were plenty of people who wanted to kill him.

“I’m not your soulmate,” he growled. Neil yawned and rolled his eyes.

“Sure whatever, I won’t be around long enough for it to matter anyway. The whole thing is bullshit, you live your life, I live mine for however long it will be,” Neil told him. “This doesn’t have to be a thing, I just have an attitude problem.” The blonde blinked at him in what appeared to be surprise, his curled lips slackening out of their snarl.

“Unbelievable,” he muttered, letting Neil go.

“What is?” Neil asked, fixing his hoodie. The man, who’d only taken half a step back, eyed him in distaste.

“That my soulmate has to be a suicidal fugitive with a big mouth.”

“I’m not suicidal,” Neil said, but the other two statements were accurate so he ignored them. “I’ve worked too hard to survive to want to die on purpose,” he explained.

“Interesting,” he said through a yawn.

“Yeah, you look so intrigued,” Neil mused, yawning too. He rolled his eyes. “Are you going to tell me your name?”

“No,” the blondie said.

“If you’re fucking someone in the kitchen Andrew, I will ring your neck!” Kevin yelled from the hallway. Andrew sighed and Neil smirked at him.

“Hello Andrew,” he said. Andrew glared at him.

“Is it safe?” Kevin called. Andrew didn’t take his eyes off Neil when he responded.

“As safe as it can be with a runaway in the room.”

“Natha- Neil’s here?” Kevin asked, footsteps loud as he hurried up the hallway. Neil turned as he popped into view, extremely tall with dark wavy hair mussed from sleep. He had a split lip, but Neil assumed it was from chewing and picking at it like he used to when they were kids. “You don’t look like Neil,” he said, eyes flashing. Neil raised his hands in surrender and took a step back, directly into Andrew.

“Chill Kev, it’s me. I just dyed my hair and have contacts in,” Neil said.

“Prove it.”

“That I have changed my looks, or that it’s me?”

“Both,” Andrew said, gripping Neil’s arm in a vice-like grip.

“Let go of me, I will,” he said. Andrew did and Neil pinched the contact out of one eye, tossing it in the bin near his knee. He took out the other and blinked at Kevin, eyes watering a little. “It’s me, okay? My hair’s kinda reddish under the black dye. I used to play defender when we played, I used to cry when mom left me at your house, you used to sing One Direction and slept with a monkey teddy-” Kevin waved his hand at Neil to cut him off and Neil smiled at him.

“Alright, I believe you.”

“Monkey teddy?” Andrew asked, sounding smug behind Neil.

“Shut up Andrew, go to bed,” Kevin snapped. Andrew skirted around Neil and Kevin, but Neil didn’t miss the fact that he stopped and looked Neil over one last time before disappearing. A few moments later, the shower cut on and Kevin came closer to Neil. “What was the bang I heard?” Kevin asked. Neil dragged his attention from where Andrew had disappeared back to Kevin.

“Oh nothing, I don’t think he likes the fact that we’re soulmates,” he answered, shrugging nonchalantly. Kevin’s mouth fell open.

“You’re what?” He asked, and then frowned, tilting his head. “You’re gay?” Neil laughed despite himself.

“Apparently? It’s news to me,” he said. “It doesn’t matter though, I’ll only be here for two or three nights while I plan my next step. Dad caught up to us and Mom and I only just got away, but she died a couple days later. The Moriyamas will know I’m alive by now so I need to lie low, get my shit together, and then leave the country,” Neil explained.

“Lying low means coming here?” Kevin demanded, crossing his arms across his chest. Neil shrugged and looked at his feet, fingers wringing the strap of his duffel.

“Look man, I had nowhere else to go, okay? Mom died twenty-four hours ago, I didn’t know what else I could do.”

“Apart from coming here, fucking up my life and pissing off my roommate?” He asked, but there was no heat in Kevin’s voice.

“Yes well, collateral damage and all that,” Neil said before glancing back down the hallway. “Besides, pissing him off wasn’t my intention. I could have gone my whole life without meeting him and it wouldn’t have made a difference,” he added. Kevin smirked at Neil and when Neil made eye contact with him, he frowned. “What?”

“Andrew has been waiting a long, long time to tell his soulmate he’s an idiot. Did he?”

“Not in so many words, but I got the vibe,” Neil replied. “Why though? How would he have known from just our first words?”

“Asking ‘are you my soulmate?’ seemed to be a good enough reason to think someone was an idiot. He thought you were going around asking random people until someone said yes,” Kevin explained. Neil pulled a face.

“Well that’s not what happened. He said the words on my ankle so I asked if he was my soulmate on instinct. I don’t really care though, and he clearly doesn’t need me so it works out for all.”

“It does, which I suppose is the point of soulmates. It works out.” Kevin said. Neil thought this over for a second and felt a small sense of relief. He’d felt unnecessarily guilty for years, expecting to break a girl’s heart when she found her soulmate and he fled to the other side of the country away from her. This was better. This was a man, clearly independent and not the least bit interested in having a soulmate. Neil could leave, and neither man would be affected. Andrew would hold his own, and Neil wouldn’t break his heart. If he died or ran away, it would just be a mild inconvenience to him.

“Good,” Neil breathed. Kevin raised an eyebrow, but didn’t ask.

“When Andrew’s done in the shower, you can have one, then you can sleep in my bunk if you want? I’ll stay out here and study,” Kevin said.

“Won’t Andrew be sleeping off his shift in there?” Neil asked. Kevin smirked at him.

“Will that be a problem?”

“No, I suppose it won’t be.”

“Three days Neil, then you’re gone,” Kevin said, turning on his heel to sit at his desk.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

#andreil #andrew minyard #neil josten #kevin day #soulmate au #aftg #fic #chaptered fic

66 notes · View notes

recentanimenews · 6 years

Text

Bookshelf Briefs 9/17/18

The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Vol. 9 | By Kore Yamazaki | Seven Seas – I read the first eight volumes of The Ancient Magus’ Bride back-to-back, so it was a little weird reading this one on its own. We pick up with Chise having made a deal with Josef that ultimately involves each getting to see the other’s painful past. She eventually must agree that he’s suffered even more than she has, though this doesn’t give him an excuse for hurting people. I’m not sure if her message of understanding really got through to him, but it was pretty neat that, although Elias was prepared to do something terrible to save her, Chise essentially saved herself. Perhaps a bit too neatly, everything more or less resets in time for the next phase of the story—the “college arc”—which begins next volume. I’m looking forward to it! – Michelle Smith

A Centaur’s Life, Vol. 15 | By Kei Murayama | Seven Seas – Last time we had a lot of war and very little of the main cast; this time the main cast are more heavily involved, but only because the war comes to them. Honestly, if anything, the series gets even more bizarre, something I thought impossible, mostly thanks to the snake people and their “world in a bubble” reality generator, which makes me wonder how much of what we’ve seen has been in one of those. As for Hime, though the cover may make this look like a final volume, it isn’t—but she is almost killed by terrorists, who go after the little triplet girls as well. A Centaur’s Life has found the line between cute (and sometimes perverse) monster girls and anti-war otakudom, and is proud to step back and over over that line. – Sean Gaffney

Hatsu*Haru, Vol. 2 | By Shizuki Fujisawa | Yen Press -The concept of the playboy high school guy who ends up knowing nothing about what real love feels like is not a new plot in the slightest, but the author does a very good job of keeping us interested despite that. Kai’s attempts to force a kiss on Riko get him in deep trouble for almost half the volume, and justifiably so. But Kai is genuinely trying to understand Hiro, and understand why she continues to be in love with another man even though she knows he is with someone else and can’t reciprocate it. The series gets a bit more cliche when it moves to the other main characters—honestly, the Buddhist guy/Shinto girl pair made me groan at how cliched it was. Do we need to pair the spares already? Still, overall good. – Sean Gaffney

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon Four-Panel Comic: Odd Days of Goddess | By Masaya Takamura and Fujino Omori | Yen Press – The second volume of this 4-koma parody series is not as good as the first. Honestly, it has to be said: seeing Hestia and Lilly getting jealous over Bell is not really why fans over here read the series, and since it’s exaggerated in a parody, that makes it more annoying. This second volume came out around when Sword Oratoria was taking off, so the second half focuses far more on Lefiya and company, but the humorous tone is still the same. Oddly, the best parts of the volume are when it briefly turns serious, or at least sweet, showing off Bell and Hestia’s pure and innocent kind-of love. If you like the series, this may make you smile. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 4 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – I suspect I may love this a bit more than other manga bloggers do, but oh well. I love it. Shirogane’s sister is on the cover, and she does come to visit the student council room, though she’s on her best behavior. And there are a few classic Chika moments. But for the most part this volume is dominated by Kaguya and Shirogane and their desperate attempts to get the other to confess first so they can just GO OUT ALREADY. This includes pretending to be cold, which goes disastrously on both sides, and Kaguya then CATCHING a cold, which leads to an actual crisis when Shirogane can’t control his teenage hormones and Kaguya thinks he went too far… or not far enough. I can’t stop laughing when I read this. – Sean Gaffney

The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window, Vol. 5 | By Tomoko Yamashita | SuBLime Manga (digital only) – I wasn’t exactly lulled into a false sense of security by the episodic first half of this volume, given the pervasive ominous feeling that always lingers on the fringes of this series, but I was still taken by surprise when some pivotal things suddenly happen in the back half, including Hanzawa having a run-in with Erika and readers suddenly learning some very major and disturbing truths about Rihito’s past that both render him more sympathetic as a character and provide further evidence that he’s likely a very dangerous person for Mikado to be hanging around with. I love this series so much, from the spare yet expressive art to the creepy cases to the leads and their complicated relationship. What it reminds me of the most is Tokyo Babylon, so if that’s your jam, please read this series! – Michelle Smith

Queen’s Quality, Vol. 5 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – This volume of Queen’s Quality felt more like a shonen series, filled with dramatic battles, swords, and flashbacks of dead childhood friends in the best One Piece tradition. Fumi is getting closer to becoming a true queen, and succeeds in at least moving from the Black Queen to the Dark Grey Queen this time around (would she sing the Seven Seas of Rhye?), but she has to figure out a way to work with white as well, and it’s implied that she has to recover all her memories to do so. Meanwhile, Kyutaro is having trouble dealing with how much he’s in love with her, and even her very presence can relax and heal him. This new arc involving a spring break training trip will have trouble topping the excitement of the arc that ended here. – Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 41 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | VIZ Media- Kyoko’s audition for a ninja role in a samurai drama continues, and the majority of this volume can be summed up as, “She proceeds to be very badass.” Some of what happens to make her stand out was a calculated move on Yashiro’s part, but the fact is that she has prepared more than any of the other candidates, and even the fact that she’s a “talento” with LME instead of an official actress doesn’t seem like it’ll hurt her much. I love the way Nakamura-sensei depicts Kyoko when she’s in character, and her ninja persona is very cool indeed. I’d be super happy to see some serious stardom start to come her way, especially with Yashiro as her manager. The final couple of pages hint for some movement on the romance front, too. I still love this series very, very much! – Michelle Smith

Slum Wolf | By Tadao Tsuge | New York Review Comics – Although it’s the first volume by a Japanese creator to be published by New York Review Comics, Slum Wolf is the second major collection of Tadao Tsuge’s work to have been translated into English. (Trash Market was released a few years ago by Drawn & Quarterly.) Slum Wolf brings together nine of Tsuge’s short manga originally published between 1969 an 1978, most of which first appeared in the influential alternative manga magazine Garo. In addition to an autobiographical article by Tsuge, an essay by the volume’s editor and translator Ryan Holmberg which provides additional historical context for the manga is also included. The stories themselves have autobiographical influences as well. Filled with vagrants, punks, hoodlums, and other tough guys living in the shadow of the Second World War and the American occupation that followed, the short vignettes in Slum Wolf share a similar atmosphere and mood, themes, and even a few recurring characters. – Ash Brown

By: Ash Brown

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

0 notes