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asoulofatlantis · 1 year

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We can literally have it all in an NG+ Game. If that isn’t a reason to replay it, then I don’t know what is XD

The fact the game keeps reminding you constantly though the first few hours that Olivert is supposedly that is extremely depressing the first time you play it and its extremely annoying whenever you replay it.

One of Trails biggest Issues for western-players is that it often assumes automatically that you had access to Audio-Dramas, Mangas and other special stuff they did for the series. So they assume that you know the gist of how Toval has met with Estelle and Joshua at some point, although it happened in a Manga, they also mention class 7 having holidays in Ymir which was an Audio drama. Alster also is part of a story from a different Medium (I think also an Audio-Drama) which gets just briefly mentioned in CS3 but when you get to CS4, they assume you do know who Kai and Tilia are and how our people actually come to know them. Which is a huge ass problem point when you play CS4, because its not super easy to get access to those extras, especially not in a language you can understand. And as the issue of not knowing these characters or what exactly they have to do with ours did not resolve itself by playing this game, this is yet another point for reasons not to replay this game.

While it looks like that in fact all opposing fractions are taking into a “hostage” - kind of situation, if you look closer, were they were and who they were surrounded with actually kept them protected. We know that Machias father was put in a tough spot, but with all the Military watching him, he was definitely saver then most other citizens of Erebonia. And that was most likely because Osborne knew that when all this was over, this man would be needed. Noticing stuff like that is one of the reason to replay this game.

Its absolutely dumb that she calls him “Instructor Makarov” they are in love for ages now! But as this could easily be a translation mistake, I guess we don’t have to be so harsh o say that is a reason not to replay the game, it also is just a small detail that can be overlooked I guess. So... lets just ignore this.

Fun fact about Falcom is: Apparently certain characters breast sizes grow with every game XD I am not really joking here, look at how big Rixias breasts are in Kuro compared to their size in the Crossbell-Arc. Shirley - tho she was allowed some growing still at this point - pointed out in a certain very infamous scene in Azure, that she likes woman/girls with big breasts because she is flat as a board. She does not have a great breast size compared to certain other characters in the game, but with that school Uniform (which she is rocking by the way, because those colors just complement her immensely) even Shirleys smaller chest size looks bigger, thanks to those weird positioned straps. And on that note, looking at the Eyecandy that Shirley provides in this outfit is one of the reasons to replay this game. (And yes, I am very much aware that I said the same about Cedric back in CS3. I guess their hair colors just go well with the overall colors of the school Uniform...)

Guess that means when “princey boy” is not around she can’t have much fun, huh? XD Seriously tho, it is pretty much foreshadowing of Shirleys role in this game. Because to keep Cedric on a least, Shirley herself has to put herself in timeout so to not edge him on and to actually be able to focus more on him then on what she would usually focus on. Also, if you see this scene, you would assume that she is going crazy as per usual, not having to deal with her borderline insaneness was quite a surprise back when I played this game for the first time. Anyway, reasons to replay this game is to look at how Shirleys and Cedrics relationship is always presented between the lines. Think about it. When they were at the Gral they didn’t even so much as looked at each other, all we got was the little “Not my type” out of context comment with an absolutely bad timing and thats been it. This plays roughly two weeks later and we have already established a nickname. Now with Shirley we have to consider two things. She is an Orlando, Randy mad it clear that all people he finds cute/endearing get a nickname of some sort. (Something that Juna kind of adapted it seems...) So this nickname-giving is a family-trait it seems, but seems to only go for people they find cute. HOWEVER, this is Shirley we are talking about. In her nicknames you seem to be able to always find some way of mockery. So Randolph end ob being Dolphy, which is pretty much sounding like a cute, harmless Dolphin, obviously a mockery for the man who was actually called the red reaper once. (And not even so far off, given that Randys reaper times are over and he is a big old softie now...) Now with Cedric, it would have been easy enough to turn his name into Ceddi or something (which would have annoyed him enough for sure) but Shirley chose princey boy instead. I mentioned that before in some asks I got, but the mockery behind this is easy to grasp. with “princey” she mocks his title. As you will see in their interactions later in the game, Shirley doesn’t give a damn about titles. And what is a prince anyway? Nothing compared to an Emperor. And the “boy” is pretty much mocking him by telling him she sees him as a boy, not a man. Trampling on his damn Erebonian Crown Prince pride as a woman that is actually stronger then him, to top it off. Obviously, the fact that she calls him by his nickname even when he is not around, shows that this is as much endearing as it is mockery, but the point still stands. (And going all out, analyzing the hell out of this ship is one of the most important reasons to replay this game, I tell you XD)

I honestly felt like most of the ships for our Old class 7 boys came kinda out of nowhere... but I guess given that this was supposed to be their last game and was supposed to give them their happy ending, there was no time like the present. However, it is still a bit annoying to notice, now that you have (since it is a replay) to notice such things. So not exactly a good reason to replay the game.

One of the weakest points of the Crossbell-Saga is that you miss out on A LOT of important stuff, if you don’t do certain side- oder hidden missions. For example, I never met Xin before CS4 so I never knew who he was and why he was so taken with Elie. Its kind of frustrating. Then again, the whole Crossbell-thing was kind of frustrating for most of the Western-Fandom until recently. Since that issue can be taken care of by now... I guess we do not say it is a point not to replay the game. Rather, AFTER you cleared the Crossbell-Saga, with all the Sidemissions, it might make even more sense to replay this game. Xin aside, there are a lot of things in CS3 and CS4 that feel different after you finish the Crossbell-Saga. And I guess even more so, if you do all the side- and hidden missions.

Cao is one of the most frustrating but also most intriguing characters that the Trails-Saga has produced. He switches sides whenever he feels like it and often in a way and with a timing you can not foresee even if you know that he is like that. And if you think he is a problem here, wait till you see him in Riveri and if you think you have figured him out by then, watch him break Ashens heart in Kuro2 despite the fact that he does care about her - or does he? You never know with him. And it is fun to see him again, doing what he is usually doing, after actually seeing what he pulls in future games. So certainly a reason to replay this game.

Compared to Erebonia, Crossbell provides all their harem-girls with an alternative partner. We easily have Wazy for Noel, Ilya obviously for Rixia and our “freckled boy” here could easily go as Tios second choice. Some people might want to argue that, as he is in Riveri quite happy to see her reunion with Lloyd but its not like Wazy was jealous about the way Noel saved Lloyd and we still have the game put them together constantly, including in the epilogue of this very game. In any case, having Jonah be all like “I am not worried about Tio being missing!” is really adorable to watch, so a nice reason to replay the game for once.

Obviously this whole mess was painful enough as it was, but I always found it regretful, especially after Olivert and Toval specifically mentioning the woman they loved before their untimely “death” that we didn’t get to see Sheras and Eiens reactions. I mean Shera was right in Heimdall, seeing it live, so there would have been an easy enough possibility. And it would have been kind of nice, like, before the Credits role, to actually see how Eien was informed about Tovals death. I mean, the woman is tough as Iron, but seeing her act all “Oh well, can’t be changed” infront of whoever was the messenger and then actually start to cry why smoking a cigerret and opening a bottle of wine would have been nice to seed. But I guess that is the shipper inside of me who wants more then she bargained for XD In any case, this game finally giving us Shera and her feelings and reactions about Oliverts death is always a good reason to replay this game. (Tho this game really is pulling out all the painful stuff when it comes to shippings XD)

The fact that when I think of the beginning of the game I never remember dealing with them before anything else, because I am so focused on being frustrated about having to deal with New class sevens overgrown ego without even having Rean as a compensation ^^’ And when I reach this point I am always like: “Oh. Right. I have to deal with them first.” But it is really nice to see and play those guys again. Definitely a good reason to replay CS4.

The fact that you have to wonder if they too will be offered a promotion to S-Rank eventually and will also not accepted it, like many Bracers seem to do these days. I mean, at the point of Kuro 2 they should have long reached the S-Rank-Level, given their abilities and experience and all that. But I guess we deal with that question in another game. Still, an interesting reminder of their current Rank is never a bad reason to replay this game. We have Renne in Kuro 2 after all, so its not impossible to see those guys again eventually.

#Reasons to (not) replay CS4

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makeste · 3 years

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I, too, unconditionally love SIXQUIRKS. People really be forgetting that quirks are like body parts. Like AM (?) said: "If you suddenly grew a tail, you wouldn't know how to do tricks right away." They also forget the painful consequences of overusing quirks.

the biggest argument I always see against them is that they somehow make the other characters irrelevant, but tbh I've never really understood that. Sero and Ochako didn't suddenly stop existing once Deku developed Blackwhip and Float, and they're as relevant to the story as they've ever been. Ochako has her very own final villain all picked out and everything, and despite Sero being a side character, Horikoshi said he has an epic scene planned out for him in the final battle. there are a shit ton of bad guys out there to fight, and it's not like Deku is just gonna fight them all himself from here on out.

all SIXQUIRKS has done imo is make Deku's fights immeasurably more interesting than they used to be. back in the day, all he used to do was scream and jump around and punch things and break bones lol. compare his fight against Lady Nagant to his fight against Muscular, or even against Gentle. the newer fights are a thousand times more interesting and exciting because there's so much more going on. it's exactly like En said; he has all these different tools in his toolbox now, and he can strategize with them which plays to his analytical fighting style perfectly. and the thing is, he needs them too, because all of the remaining bad guys are just as OP as he is (and in fact, Tomura is currently way more OP which is actually a huge problem). that's what happens when you get to the endgame of a manga.

and yes, as you also mentioned they also serve to nerf him at times when needed, which is something that we were seeing less and less of before Blackwhip came along. he had to go all the way back to square one again just when he was finally starting to figure things out (his VA did a fantastic job capturing that frustration this week). and they're almost too powerful to control, and he has to be so careful if he doesn't want to get himself hurt (and unfortunately he's often not careful, and so yeah, sob). I give Katsuki a lot of credit for helping him get Blackwhip under control; I think it would have taken him much longer without all of their training sessions.

and speaking of Katsuki, as I said last week, his reaction to all of this really sets the standard imo. there is absolutely no insecurity; no "oh shit, Deku is going to be so much better and stronger than me and I'll never be able to catch up." he's not worried about it at all. and the thing is, he's not wrong. I don't think it's a coincidence that every last one of Deku's new abilities (with the exception of Blackwhip itself, which I'll note that Katsuki could imitate if he wanted to -- Ochako and Aizawa and Shinsou demonstrate that clearly enough) is something that Bakugou is already capable of.

Float - I mean, he says it himself lol. he's been able to fly for years.

Danger Sense - Katsuki already has arguably the fastest reflexes of anyone in the entire series. this is something he's been praised for repeatedly. he was able to save Deku at Jakku in a fraction of a second.

Smokescreen - lol yeah. chapter 118 is a good one if you want to see how capable Katsuki is of covering an entire area in smoke with little to no effort.

Fa Jin (or whatever it is) - tbh this quirk is still pretty confusing to me, but we know it works by charging up bursts of kinetic energy or whatever, and that's basically exactly how Katsuki uses his explosions. he can boost his own speed and power with a blast, or fire blasts off at opponents.

and last but not least, [mysterious as-yet-unknown quirk belonging to the Second User] - I will just leave this blank for now, but I think it's safe to say that this quirk is very unlikely to be something that Katsuki of all people wouldn't be able to duplicate.

I forget who said this to me (it was during a discussion I had in the comments of one of my posts a couple of years ago), but as far as Katsuki and Deku's power levels go, it's basically like Superman vs the Flash. Superman may be more OP, and he's got all those powers and is basically the whole package -- but it doesn't really matter if the Flash has only the one power, because his one power is so good that it makes him basically unstoppable. and Katsuki pretty much said this exact same thing during the Endeavor Agency arc. he literally doesn't care, because his quirk is still the best, and his goal to be the number one hasn't changed, and won't change.

so yeah, all in all I love the SIXQUIRKS and the extra spark of life they brought to the story, and all of the "they're overpowered and he's a Gary Stu" arguments just don't really gel with me. it hasn't affected my favorite part of the story (Katsuki and Deku's friendship/rivalry) in any kind of negative way so far. in fact, it's done the exact opposite, and has served as a catalyst for the two of them to become a lot closer. and the Vestiges are cool, and Blackwhip is sexy af, I've said it before and I'll keep saying it lol. so yeah, divisive as they are, this blog is very much pro-SIXQUIRKS, and for me they've been a fun ride thus far.

#midoriya izuku #bakugou katsuki #one for all #bnha meta #deku meta #bakugou meta #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #makeste watches bnha #asks #anon asks

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skyhopedango · 3 years

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Episode 10!!!

Plot switches into high gear! Baby brothers take focus! They're cute and brave! hooray for baby brothers! But also, Naoto is awesome. Like, Naoto from the drama & novelization thereof will always be my favorite, but 2041's Naoto is pretty damn great in his own way.

Also, damn, two more episodes left? :( I've bought the second part of 2041's novelization but I'm holding out, even though I'm really curious about just wtf is really going on here because even this episode raised more questions than it answered.

And a note on the animation: yet again I really really appreciate the way they pay attention to small things that you rarely ever see even in "traditional" animation. Look at the eye movements! They track what the character is supposed to be looking at, paying attention to, or even when they just look around.

Anyway....

Yuuya is really such a good kid. ;__; ) I guess the two pairs of brothers are similar in their basic nature, and beneath all the military training Yuuya is just as kind as Naoya. (Meanwhile, Naoto and Takuya... :D )

So anyway, hey, Russia arc, kind of! It's Russia, anyway!

I get it now - instead of Naoya moving to hide behind Naoto's back or clinging to his arm at the first opportunity, in 2041 the brothers' thing is Naoto moving to stand in front of Naoya at any opportunity. :D Like at this point it's his first reaction to meeting anyone. :DDD

Also, so basically, the Russian lab is a sort of super-mind made up combining the powers of those psychic kids and Mikuriya, that created "pockets" like Mikuriya's lab or that shrine, and also brings people back and forth from the Awesome Spirit World, right?

Also, OOOHHH I get it now. So Mikuriya took in the Kirihara brothers in 2014, but oops, in that exact time they were quite literally spirited away into the Awesome Spirit World. So Mikuriya was like "well damn, wtf" until 2023 when Shouko showed up, aaand THAT'S STILL 18 YEARS UNTIL 2041 NOT 15!!!! WHAT AM i NOT GETTING??! (it must be something super obvious, also I suck at maths.)

So anyway, how does Misaki figure into this? Sure, he provided the prophecy and then he died, but he's still around as we saw in the previous episode.

Also, wait, so what about the whole reincarnation thing? In episode 9 Misaki told Akiko that she's already reincarnated in this world - originally I thought he'd meant the Awesome Spirit World but thinking about it, he must have meant this Bad Material World, otherwise it wouldn't make sense at all. So technically Akiko was dead and had already been reincarnated, and so she disintegrated because there obviously can't be two of her at the same time...

...which is eerily like the paradox they mentioned re: the Kirihara & Kuroki brothers, and it certainly fits the way they keep telling us that they're essentially the same. So if they're technically the same there can't be two sets of the same people going around at the same time.

And right enough, both Naoya and Yuuya are disintegrating, implying that they'll die? probably? When Miki & Masayuki disintegrated Mikuriya said they "went back" to the Awesome Spirit World. But when Akiko disintegrated she supposedly died, as Misaki said he would've wanted Akiko to see the world he'd seen. The way Naoya & Yuuya are disintegrating though... apparently they're also technically dying, then?

(But also what about the older brothers, why are they OK? ...maybe because the two younger ones are empaths which makes them more vulnerable to this sort of thing? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

...right, I give up. :D I'll just let the story tell me when it wants to tell me.

Anyway, aww, baby brothers connecting! Communicating, even!! Working together!!! Baby brothers save the day! That was so nice. And the older brothers being all "hrrr grrrr hrrrr" about it. :D

So anyway, Naoto is awesome. Missiles? NO PROBLEM. I'm on a mission here. I may die but I did my job. Also I may die doing something actually useful for once. I can see drama!Naoto being pretty satisfied with that, although he didn't really have a death wish... he did hate having this seemingly terrible power though, so he would've liked to go out using it for a greater good, especially if that involved protecting Naoya. But also, Naoya deciding to stay, and the two of them standing there being all against the world and everything was pretty great.

Takuya, my friend. You're so, so dumb. You're very pretty but oh you're so dumb.

Also, look, this is hugging, OK? Sure, Naoto is covering Naoya from the blast but Naoya's arms are around him, so that's technically a hug, OK? Let me have my fantasy.

(Even though 2041 is lightyears better than Genesis about literally everything, I still find it kind of hilarious that it still can't show even a fraction of the physical contact between these two that the drama has... let alone the Tateno Makoto manga that shamelessly wallows in shipping.)

Wait, Miracle Mick is involved somehow? That's one plotline I didn't expect to get picked up again. :O

I'm going to be so sad when this ends. :( Gonna be lonely again... the show doesn't have any fandom that I can see, and with me sucking at drawing or writing, it's gonna be back in my, er, spiritual world of beautiful brotherly love, sigh. Well, at least from now it will come in two flavors. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#night head 2041 #night head #kirihara naoto #kirihara naoya #kuroki takuya #kuroki yuuya

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ddarker-dreams · 3 years

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What’s your favorite junji ito’s works except his notable works like Tomie, Gyo or Uzumaki? I personally like “The Human Chair”

AAAA you are tempting me to make that long review/analysis for my favorite junji ito works anon. maybe this can sate me until i get the time to really break down my thoughts on his work. the human chair is a story that i enjoyed a lot too, i’d say it’s one of my favorites! god i’m going to work as hard as i can so that i may one day have a fraction of the creativity junji ito does. i’d say that tomie is my favorite work of his overall, but if we’re talking less non mainstream (?) junji ito stories, here’s the three that came to mind first.

i’ll try to avoid any possible spoilers in my account of these!

long dream

the recent namesake for a yan xiao fic of mine! i found the concept to be so fascinating. i’ve suffered from nightmares my entire life, so the idea of being stuck in a dream for what feels like literal decades was enough to freak me out. not to mention the iconic art that progresses to be more and more grotesque. the final image is one that i just stared at because i was so engrossed by it. really messed me up in the best of ways, as horror should.

the enigma of amigara fault

okay, okay, i know this one’s pretty popular. it just holds a special place in my heart because it’s the first work of ito’s that i had ever seen. i knew absolutely nothing about him beforehand, i didn’t even realize it was a horror manga, i just went in blind and it was great. i never thought a visual format without the aid of sound could freak me out so thoroughly. but the way ito was able to translate claustrophobia into art was just so well done that i got sucked in by it. it’s another work that upon revisiting it, i could see a lot of potential social commentary in it. which i’ll perhaps dive into when i make my definitive junji ito review one day.

the hanging balloons

when it comes to horror, i think it’s important to create a scenario where if the reader imagined themselves in it, they’d be overwhelmed by a sense of dread. the hanging balloons is an excellent example of modern cosmic horror. where the outside threat is just so big, so all encompassing, that there’s little to root for because you know it’s not going to end well. while i prefer psychological horror, this version also has its merits. the hanging balloons presents an event where human beings have little to no hope of surviving. there’s no explanation as to “why” or “how” the events take place, in true cosmic horror fashion, just surreal events that keep you turning the page.

some of my other favorites from him would be: army of one, earthbound, the window next door, black bird, she is a slow walker, snail people, mosquitoes, hair, orphan girl, little finger, babysitter, and old and ugly.

#answered #lock lore #Anonymous

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cross-d-a · 3 years

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Pass the happy!💖 When you get this, reply with 5 things that make you happy and send this to the last 10 people in your notifications!

(I have decided that Discord notifs count because I love you dearly and wanna hear what makes you happy)

HELLO!!!! I love you and I kinda really needed this and I think you know that so thank you!!!!! I love and appreciate you SO MUCH!!

Also I've literally been thinking about this post for two hours and so I'm not gonna stick to just five- I'm gonna list MORE than that because I wanna remind myself that there are many wonderful things in the world to be happy about and also PICS!! I'm adding PICS bc I CAN!!!!!!!!!

under the cut bc it gets LONG! :)

1) YOU make me happy, Sierra!!!!!!! Also @s1utspeare and @vishcount and of course my bff @haru-tl !!! You guys are so fucking incredible and talented and AMAZING!!!! I love you all SO MUCH!!! You always make my day!!! And all the dmbj peeps!!! I am so lucky to know so many wonderful people!!!!

2) as long as we're on the subject of people- I absolutely can't leave out my coworkers!!! Literally some of the best people I've ever met in my life. I have so much fun with them. I can always count on them making me laugh.

Like today, we were talking about this reptile house a few towns away and my manager was telling us about their cool anaconda exhibit where you can crawl under the glass tank and watch them eat and she mentioned their teeth being scary. So I googled Anaconda Teeth and went WOAH THEY'RE COOL and our Resident Snake Expert came over and went actually that pic is from the movie Anaconda. And then he helped me find Real Pics and the teeth were even COOLER. I left the Google search up on the work computer and a couple hours when I was on lunch I heard Mike exclaim: "I had NO idea that ANACONDAS had TEETH!!!!!!" Which?? MIKE?? WHAT??? Hahaha everyone burst into laughter :)

3) my cat BOOTS makes me happy!! He's always asking for belly scritches and he drools when he's happy. Here's a pic bc I adore him:

4) my new baby boy So Mun from The Uncanny Counter makes me VERY happy!!!!! He's just- the Sweetest Boy to have ever Baby'd!!! I adore his little crinkly-eyed smile and curly hair!!! He's just so GOOD it makes me cry!! Also!! Disabled rep!!!!! LOVE HIM!!!!! Look at his lil' FACE:

and bc he is Unfortunately Very Hot in his mourning outfit:

adding this too bc LOOK AT THAT ADORABLE SMILE I wanna SCREAM

5) my Pangzi necklace makes me happy!!! I have an Iron Triangle matching set, but the Pangzi one I first put on bc of Brigid's Pangzi chapter for Swiftly Tilting and then I kinda just- never took it off haha. It's just so pretty and makes me feel like I've got a bit of Pangzi with me at all times. I love that man SO much and if I can be even a fraction of how wonderful he is, then I can die happy

6) the smell of the sea makes me happy!!! It makes me feel refreshed and relaxed! I live by Puget Sound and on very lucky days I can smell it at my house! Tonight was a lucky night! I came home and it smelled like the seashore, so I kept my window open as I folded laundry :)

7) my new collection of Kpop CDs makes me happy!! It's entirely bc of Vish's influence and I LOVE her for it!!! The packaging is just so pretty and I always love being able to hold things that give me Good Feelings in my hands :)

8) since we're on the subject of COLLECTIONS, I love to collect things!! And one collection of things that makes me happy are my books!! I have- too many. Working in a bookstore makes it too easy to buy them! But seeing the bright spines on my shelves gives me delight. I particularly really like my queer manga collection!! I've got four whole shelves of it! :) I'd offer a pic but I'm too tired to go upstairs, haha but I love the art and the representation 🌈

9) I ALSO really love all the figures I collect! Seeing characters that I love on a daily basis makes me happy. I usually decorate my bookshelves with them. One set that makes me particularly happy are my Pingxie ones. They look like they're getting married and it delights me:

10) another purchase that is entirely bc of Vish (I ADORE you!!) is my Chimmy blanket!! He's just so adorable and bright and coming home every day to see him waiting on my bed makes me very happy

11) yet another bright yellow thing that makes me happy is my dmbj Xiao Ge coaster!! It's so sparkly and fun AND it's a friendship coaster I share with Sierra!! We've got a matching set, babe!! I love you!! Let's just shake them around and be distracted by the sparkles forever!!

12) coming back to work from my weekend to find a bunch of manga to shelve always makes me very happy!!! Buying/pricing/shelving manga is my favourite thing to do at work! I love seeing familiar and new titles!

And it's interesting to see how prices can change if it goes out of print! Sometimes every single book in a series but ONE is the same price. Like last month we had a series where like/ volume 8 was worth $250 vs the regular $7.99 for the rest of them. And someone BOUGHT IT!! Things like that can happen randomly. It can be bc it was a smaller printing for that particular volume. OR something special happens in it (new character appearance/fan favourite story arc/BOOBS), so more ppl want to keep it which means it's harder to come by (and then sellers raise their prices BC it's difficult to come by). You usually see the collectible value go up for out of print BL or older series like Aria or Lupin III. Not everything that's out of print is collectible, but it's always interesting when it is :)

13) DAY6's The Book of Us: Gravity has graciously given me a big serotonin boost the last couple days!! It's just- I dunno! Uplifting! Catchy! Full of energy! :)

14) similarly, I've been listening to Close Your Eyes by Isaac Hong almost exclusively for like- five days now! It's from The Uncanny Counter and it makes me very happy! It's very emotional and just reminds me of my baby boy So Mun :)

15) sunshine makes me happy!! I'm at that point in the year where I don't want rain anymore, just sun! So it's always nice having my windows open at home with the sun shining through. Or the back doors at work propped open while we go about our day. It's almost impossible to feel sad when you get to bask in the warmth of the sun and smell the nice fresh air

16) finding weird random books at work makes me happy! It's so fun seeing the kinds of things people read! And sometimes you find cool ephemera in the things people sell to us that they don't want back. Like- look at this pic from an older fortune-telling birthday book I found. She is 1000% Drowning Him and I love that for her :)

17) reading manga makes me happy. There are just so many wonderful and ridiculous series out there. There really is nothing "too weird to publish" in the manga world. I was reminded of this the other day when I discovered a series about a girl who timetravels and finds out that her soulmate is a Neanderthal. You can literally find a series about ANYTHING in the manga world and I love that about it. There's no limit to the imagination and there's something for everyone :)

18) when I'm in the mood, writing and drawing make me happy. There's just something about creating that really just- fills the soul :)

19) making playlists makes me happy!! I love having playlists for characters and relationships and fics and even specific fic chapters or moods or going to sleep! (And rec playlists! Like Vish's :) ) It's just- so satisfying having the Perfect Playlist on hand! Plus it's fun actually making them- like figuring out the mood/lyrics and what they fit into :) I listen to music almost constantly, so this is essential! :)

So thank you Sierra!! It was nice to remind myself about a lot of different things that bring joy to my life!! I love and adore you SO MUCH 💖💖💖

#cross talks #ask #ask game #kinda?????????#good stuff

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midasgutz · 3 years

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we finished the bleach anime. it was alright, the ending definitely suffered from the problems every shounen anime inherently does towards the end. i hear the manga actually continues to escalate after this, i might be interested in seeing what that looks like since i hear the anime is coming back. im pretty disappointed in a couple things though. we didnt get to see nel again, which is just utter bullshit. after she transformed, she had her little fight and Lost. and then we never saw her again. i consider that a plot hole to be honest. to my knowledge, we didnt even see orihime heal her. she was a fantastic and fun character, she needed more time to be her self. her little self, if you ask me. another thing, they killed gin like right after the first time he ever did anything. he was such an empty character and they never explained him. why would a kid decide to do what he did? what happened to make rangiku love him so much? this dude basically threw his whole life in the trash to pursue one single goal that he could have achieved if he just opened up to the other soul reapers. i cant decide if this was always the plan for his character, or if kubo just forgot about him so long he decided to make him a secret good guy. like, oh this bad guy has never done anything bad... i guess he's a good guy now? he never got any resolution to his character even though the twist was actually pretty cool and it could have been awesome if they bothered to explore it for an episode or two. but they really didnt, it was just a shallow twist even though i sorta saw it coming. i was always defending him to my mom cause he rly never did anything. she hated him cause he was a douche but you have to be kind of a dick to roll with aizen so... anyway the visoreds really fucking suck. we hardly even saw any of them release their zanpaktou, and even though they were incredibly cool characters they never did anything. hiyori was an amazing character, with a lot of personality and great jokes. who never did anything. she was literally around only so she could job to ichigo once or twice in training, and fail at every single thing she ever does. shinji was the most developed visored, and he didnt do anything. his release was cool but we never saw his bankai. when they revealed that he was a captain, it was a really big surprise! but he never ever measured up to the best of the current captains. kenpachi would destroy him. byakuya would destroy him. he might be able to win against toshiro or the badger guy, but i kind of doubt it. he has to have a bankai to be a captain but he never even tried to use it on aizen, who he has a fucking super grudge against. the dude ruined his life and permanently changed his friends. he got him sentenced to death! but shinji couldnt do anything, anything at all against aizen. to be honest, he seemed a lot weaker than mashiro who was an actual joke character. then, and i consider this another plot hole, they game kaname a resurreccion. the fact that he, as a visored, has a bankai and a resurreccion strongly implies that EVERY visored has one. including ichigo himself. and shinji, hiyori, mashiro, all of the visored crew. so the fact that we never see any of the visoreds bankai OR resurreccion..

why even have them fight? we have interesting characters who dont fight in this show, why even bother? i dont get it. the coolest and best character in bleach, in the whole show, turned out to be ikkaku madarame. who initially appeared to be a fuckup only meant for ichigo to waste an episode or two on. the guy has an interesting set of priciples, he has a distinct goal and not to mention a really cool underused bankai. we only saw it once, but it was amazing and it really suits him. he was such a cool guy and he doesnt get to do anything either. he had 1 real fight against an arrancar who to my knowledge wasnt an espada. but hiyori? nothing. she fought a couple fractiones and couldnt even beat any of those alone. not even 1 of them. those fractiones probably had better backstory than she did. urahara was really mysterious through most of the show. im not sure if i really like his motives more than i liked him as a mysterious force pushing the plot forward for unknowable reasons. yoruichi was never ever explained, like at all. her motive was just that she wanted to help urahara. like i get rescuing him from his death sentence, i get wanting to help the visoreds. but she left everything for him? she really never got to be her own person after that. she was a shallow character. and another super power character who never lost, but doesnt have a fucking bankai! what!!! if she or urahara whipped out their bankai the show would have just been over. seriously they always could have beaten aizen, up until he became a monster by fusing with the hogyoku. even then probably! they NEVER lost a single fight!!! how am i supposed to believe they couldnt play a bigger role, or even solve the problem themselves? i dont even think i ever saw them seriously injured. they're invincible, over a hundred years old, definitely have bankais but never use them... but they spend all of their time manipulating people into doing their work for them.

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themattress · 6 years

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Ah, see, a chapter from this crappy book was put online.

Many comments down below argue against it, point out what’s wrong with it, and deconstruct its main thesis....but I feel I can do it better, so that’s what I’m going to use this post to do.

When I played Kingdom Hearts II for the first time, one moment stuck with me above all else.

Wow, OK, so this one moment (the Sora/Riku yaoi bait moment) stood out above all other of the many magnificent, memorable moments in the game to you, did it now? Goes to show where your priorities are, and they are NOT where most KH players’ are. But yeah, you’re such a KH “expert” whom we should totally take seriously. After all, you wrote a book!

Before the final string of boss battles, after reuniting with Kairi—a brief hug and the murmured words “this is real”—Sora prepares to continue his trek through The World That Never Was to find Xemnas. Ansem, tall and ominous in his black coat, watches this exchange from a dozen feet away. Silently, he turns and begins to walk away, only for Kairi to run after him and demand, “Riku, don’t go.”

LIE! This is NOT how the moment went at all. The hug was not “brief” - Kairi throws herself at Sora out of pure emotion, hugs him, says “this is real”, and then Sora, recovering from the surprise, closes his eyes dramatically and emotionally as she hugs Kairi back, tightly. This shared hug lasts long enough for Donald and Goofy, our resident in-game Sora/Kairi shippers, to nonverbally react to it with happiness. This moment is given respect and weight, and it only falls flat for you because you don’t care about Kairi or Sora/Kairi. Sora also does NOT “prepare to continue his trek”, he and Kairi both only get snapped out of the hug when “Ansem” tries to leave. Also, let’s see how long it takes for you to gloss over Kairi’s role in making the reunion happen, even when you admit Riku would have left if not for her.

(Btw, the hug and Sora crying on his knees both lasted the same amount: 20 seconds.)

Sora spends every free moment he has in Kingdom Hearts looking for Riku, inquiring with everyone he meets about his whereabouts and lamenting his absence.

LIE! This is NOT what Sora does with “every free moment” he has. There are other friends he genuinely wants to catch up with, other people he doesn’t particularly need to help but does, mini-games he wants to play...oh, and after Kairi is kidnapped, he also asks about her in addition to Riku, even to the point of getting on his knees and begging Saix to take him to her. Nobody’s arguing that Riku isn’t very important to Sora, but you are very deliberately and dishonestly slanting things to make it look like he’s all he cares about to boost your argument.

But the moment Kairi speaks Riku’s name, Sora’s face twists, displaying a confusion and pain we haven’t seen before.

LIE! Sora’s face is first one of “WTF!?” surprise, and then of just-plain incredulous confusion - he doesn’t immediately believe that “Ansem” is Riku and is likely wondering if Kairi’s lost her mind. And really? We haven’t seen these expressions from Sora before? You need to replay this game which you believe yourself to be such an expert at that you write a book about it.

A slow, almost mournful song plays in the background as Sora closes his eyes, and looks past Ansem’s guise to Riku, the friend he has so desperately searching for.

Aaand you neglect to mention that it’s because of Kairi’s powers that he is able to look past Ansem’s guise to Riku, and that as the song plays in the background, we see all three friends joining hands. Heaven forbid you imply that Kairi means anything to Sora and Riku.

Taking Riku’s hand in both of his, Sora falls to his knees. “It’s Riku. Riku’s here!” he cries, weeping and visibly shaking. “I looked for you! I looked everywhere for you!” The scene reminds me of a moment earlier in Kingdom Hearts II, where Saix kidnaps Kairi. Saix calls Kairi “the fire that feeds Sora’s anger,” assuming that harming the girl will rankle Sora, leaving him emotionally vulnerable. This statement is wildly incorrect: Sora’s fervor for Riku far outweighs his fervor for Kairi—or for anyone else in the game. Riku is Sora’s fire.

LIE! The scene it SHOULD have reminded you of is when Saix tells Sora that he has Kairi, at Hollow Bastion. Sora pleads with him to take him to her. Saix asks if she’s that important to him, and he replies “Yeah! More than anything!” Saix says “Show me how important” and Sora...falls to his knees, pathetically prostrating himself before Saix, whimpering “Please.”

When Saix then replies “No”, Sora jumps up, visibly shaking and with a sob in his voice as he yells “YOU ROTTEN...!” Very clearly, Kairi IS Sora’s fire just as much as Riku is, and harming her WILL rankle him and leave him emotionally vulnerable, which it did seeing as he had to fight his way through Heartless, despite knowing the consequences of doing so at this point, in order to reach her, and when he saw Kairi again he got distracted and was ambushed by Heartless that Kairi has to rescue him from. Leaving this info out is dishonest as fuck.

Sora and Riku’s reunion is the big emotional payoff of Kingdom Hearts II, while meeting up with Kairi doesn’t even get a fraction of this attention.

Because Sora and Kairi’s reunion in the original Kingdom Hearts was already ITS big emotional payoff. It receiving as much attention this time around would make no narrative sense given that Kairi was only until recently safe and sound, whereas Riku has been missing and presumed dead for a long time, and Sora never got to fully reconcile with him before this happened. You need to consider the context when making your conclusions.

That’s because there is no traditional romance in Kingdom Hearts.

LIE! See here. Note that it includes Sora/Kairi and Roxas/Namine.

Rather, we get a picture of intimacy between two young men, two best friends. It’s exceedingly rare that any kind of media portrays non-romantic love between two boys so deeply

Except for literally almost every shonen manga/anime/game in existence ever, you clod.

As Kingdom Hearts’s main storywriter, Tetsuya Nomura seems keen on positive portrayals of male intimacy. He worked on the main premise of Final Fantasy VII, which featured a handful of close and complicated relationships between male characters. Cloud’s relationships with Zack and Sephiroth—two former brothers in arms—color our experience in his shoes. In Final Fantasy VIII, the rivalry between Seifer and Squall is borderline flirtatious, with Seifer’s antagonism towards Squall nearing obsessive. These male relationships would continue to play a role in future Final Fantasy games even without Nomura’s involvement—the camaraderie between Braska, Auron, and Jecht in Final Fantasy X, for instance, or the budding mutual reliance and respect between Snow and Hope in Final Fantasy XIII.

Nomura DID have involvement in Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XIII, you CLOD!

The relationship between Sora and Riku is not the only intimate male friendship featured prominently in Kingdom Hearts II. There is also the bond between Axel and Roxas.

Oh, boy. Now you open up THIS can of worms. Why am I not surprised?

Throughout Kingdom Hearts II, we see the same flashback a handful of times: Roxas walking away from Axel and saying, “No one would miss me.” “That’s not true!” Axel shouts behind him, then drops his voice and murmurs, “I would.”

Um, we literally only see that flashback twice, and the part you referenced just once.

After encountering a brainwashed Roxas in Twilight Town, he is saddened to hear that his friend does not remember him. He becomes increasingly upset when Roxas continues not to cooperate with him, and in Roxas’s second fight with him it feels as though his anger is turned more on himself than on his former comrade.

You just point out that Axel becomes increasingly upset when Roxas does not do what he, Axel, wants / needs of him, without considering at all whether it’s what Roxas himself wants / needs. That’s not a good thing. And no, Axel’s anger is absolutely on Roxas in the second fight. There is a glimpse of self-loathing as well, but he is able to overcome it and perform his duty as an assassin, willing to kill his friend so that he can avoid punishment from Xemnas.

When we watch Roxas’s flashbacks of Axel pleading with him not to leave the Organization, we hear the sorrow in the latter’s voice as he says he’ll miss Roxas. Counter to everything the Organization has been led to believe, Roxas inspires true emotion in Axel: friendship, sorrow, understanding, compassion, love. If Nobodies can regrow their hearts, what emotion more powerful than love can jumpstart their reconstruction? Roxas is the driving force behind Axel and influences his every decision, even when Roxas no longer exists as a separate, complete human being.

First off, who said Nobodies can regrow their hearts? That’s not part of KH2.

Secondly, while it’s true that Roxas inspired those feelings in Axel, the fact that Axel lacks a heart means that he still is completely self-centered about them. Roxas himself is not Axel’s driving force, AXEL is Axel’s driving force. That’s the fundamental point of his character: that he pursues his own agenda above all else, and Roxas now being the main component of that agenda doesn’t change this. Your romanticized, whitewashed view of Axel is not canon.

While he calmly accepts responsibility for Naminé from DiZ

He accepted responsibility from RIKU, not DiZ, who wanted them dead. Clod, clod, CLOD!

Axel’s behavior shows that he sees his self-worth only within the context of his friendship with Roxas. Without Roxas, Axel does not value himself or his own existence, as evidenced by his readiness to sacrifice himself to save Sora.

This is partly true, but you’re a little off the mark. Axel doesn’t value himself only because of Roxas personally, but because of how Roxas makes him feel. Roxas inspiring feelings within him makes him feel like a complete being, like he has a heart. And like he says, Sora makes him feel the same way, so if he wanted to, he could have just stayed alive and stayed with Sora in order to get his feelings fix. The reason he sacrificed himself was because he had realized at last that his selfishness was wrong, that friendship is a two-way street, and after having screwed up with Roxas to the point of trying to kill him, he now wanted to redeem himself by giving to Roxas (and thus Sora): giving his life. This was a redemption, yet you’re skewing it to be “There’s no reason to live if I can’t have my boyfriend Roxas back!”

We never see this level of emotion in Sora’s reunion with Kairi.

You do remember that Sora pretty much killed himself to save Kairi in the first KH, right?

Roxas, who you were just talking about, wouldn’t have been a thing without that happening?

Are you that misogynistically averse to Kairi that you zone out whenever she’s a factor?

Sora crying for Riku, Axel crying for Roxas. The boys are the only ones who cry because their vulnerability is tied up with their dependence on each other. These are the believable relationships. These are the characters whose relationships players are never supposed to doubt. The emotion is raw and crystal clear in both of these scenes. We never see this level of emotion in Sora’s reunion with Kairi. It just isn’t there.

So boys crying ultimately places these relationships above all others, and every other relationship in the game (Sora/Kairi, Roxas/Namine, Roxas/Hayner,/Pence/Olette, Sora/Donald/Goofy, Mickey/Donald/Goofy, Mickey/Riku) can all be swept aside as irrelevant, doubtful and not believable because no visible tears are shed? That’s your argument?

Part of what makes Roxas and Axel’s relationship so beautiful is this outright rejection of their Nobody nature—they feel for each other and they let each other know it.

Here’s the problem - aside from that Axel crying scene which was not in the original version of the game, we actually NEVER see Roxas truly let Axel know that he feels for him. We literally NEVER see their friendship. It is a totally informed statement. We only see Roxas leaving and coldly saying “no-one will miss me” to Axel, and Roxas fully remembering Axel and being touched but still surprisingly blasé over what looks like (and originally WAS) Axel’s death in front of him. Yet this one-sided relationship is one of “the believable ones” to you?

And OK, let’s move away from KH2 and bring 358/2 Days into the equation. Even in that game, Roxas’ feelings of friendship toward Axel, while undeniably sincere, are nowhere close to the intensity of Axel’s feelings of friendship toward Roxas. Roxas actually has stronger feelings for Xion, and is willing to sever all ties with Axel, TWICE, because of something bad he does to him and Xion. This is not the paragon of m/m love you fangirls make it out to be!

Also, Roxas is 15. Axel is in his 20s. Just pointing that out.

Which is why the game’s ham-fisted implications of a romantic love triangle between Riku, Sora, and Kairi are so unconvincing.

WHAT romantic love triangle!? There isn’t one at all in KH2, and in fact there never was one in the original game! It was always Sora and Kairi who liked each other that way. The official Character Report book confirmed that Riku did not like Kairi that way, knew Sora did and teased him about it, often acting as a potential romantic rival just to push Sora further and make Sora stronger - he’s the big-brother figure, it’s what he does. He only became posessive of Kairi and fought with Sora over her after he thought Sora abandoned him for Donald and Goofy (and the Keyblade). It was basically his way of saying “you throw away our friendship, then I take away your friendship / romance with Kairi, and she’ll stay MY friend!”

The implications are unconvincing because they’re a product of your deranged mind!

While the narrative wants you to believe these two are destined to become lovers, any implied Sora/Kairi mutual affection comes off simply as friends bound together by happy childhood memories.

Right, because the Paupu Fruit (called “so romantic” by Selphie) is totally just a friendship thing, Sora killing himself in order to save Kairi and Kairi being able to bring him back because they are that close (in the present, not just in “happy childhood memories”) is totally just a friendship thing, the whole plot of CoM hinging on Kairi as Sora’s most important person (which he later re-iterates to Saix) is totally just a friendship thing, Sora imagining himself and Kairi in place of Jack and Sally slow-dancing is totally just a friendship thing, Sora and Kairi’s connection being able to bring Sora and Riku back home is totally just a friendship thing, Xion having Kairi’s face because Kairi is Sora’s most precious memory is totally just a friendship thing, this is totally just a friendship thing...I could go on. You. Are. DELUSIONAL.

Riku and Sora spend all of the first Kingdom Hearts looking for this girl, but at the start of Kingdom Hearts II it’s clear they are more invested in one another.

Which is probably because their goal in the first game was completed and Kairi is safe and sound on Destiny Islands at the start of KH2, while Sora and Riku are still in precarious situations. Once Kairi is put BACK in danger, Sora and Riku both become invested in her as well. Your constant lies by omission are bordering on sociopathic now!

Kingdom Hearts II begins with Kairi on Destiny Islands without Sora and Riku. Despite Sora’s promise during the ending events of the first Kingdom Hearts that he would find her again, he has still not returned home or even bothered to contact Kairi.

LIE! His promise was NOT “to find her again”, he knows where she is, his promise was to come back to her with Riku, something she agreed to since, contrary to hateful fangirls’ portrayals of her, she cares about Riku too. At the end of KH2, he is finally able to keep that promise, plus the other promise of returning her lucky charm to her once his task was complete. Why the fuck would he return home without Riku, thus breaking his promise?

Instead, his search for Riku led him to Castle Oblivion and the events of Chain of Memories

Which, as mentioned above, his feelings for Kairi were instrumental to.

Meanwhile, that someone else is hopping from world to world looking for Riku, taking no time to stop by Destiny Islands to let Kairi know he’s okay. Everywhere he stops on his journey, he asks the same question: Has anyone seen Riku? Why not ask for directions back home to Kairi? Despite the game’s flashbacks and shoddily shoehorned-in visions of Kairi, she’s just not Sora’s priority.

Because, again, he KNOWS Kairi is safe on the islands so she’s not a priority, and his promise was to bring Riku back home so that the three of them could live happily together again. Why the fuck would he ask for directions back home when he’s made it repeatedly clear that his objective is only to return once he has Riku back, since that’s what Kairi wants as well? Also, once Kairi is kidnapped, she DOES become his priority and he asks about her / a way into the Nobodies’ world to rescue her just as much as he asks about where Riku is.

Sora’s constant search for Riku makes it clear that this is the relationship we need to be paying attention to.

No, it’s ONE of them. Kingdom Hearts is made of MANY important relationships. His constant search for Kairi in addition to Riku once she’s kidnapped shows that his relationship with her is another one, and Donald and Goofy’s continuing quest for King Mickey shows that their relationship with him is another one. And let’s not forget the core one of Sora! Donald! Goofy!

You pushing Sora/Riku as the end-all, be-all is your agenda, not the game’s.

If there is supposed to be romantic love between Sora and Kairi, it’s not present in the writing.

LIE! I’ve already pointed out why.

Their reunion is brief, and their conversation is clipped and bland. Kairi tells Sora she came looking for him because he never came home, and Sora’s reaction lets us know that he knows he screwed up. Sora apologizes to Kairi, and even as she hugs him, his response to her presence is anemic compared to the complete emotional breakdown he has when Riku is revealed.

This is your take on it, not a fact like you are presenting it as. Other views may differ.

Even after Riku’s abominable behavior, and even as he spends a majority of Kingdom Hearts II desperately avoiding Sora, his friend is still overcome to the point of tears when they meet. Sora does not rebuke Riku, he simply asks him why he has been avoiding him.

Um, yeah. That’s Sora. That’s his character, very easily forgiving. So what?

Sora is a benevolent guy throughout these games, but it’s not like him to give a free pass to his opponents.

LIE! See Maleficent and Pete, Axel, Beast when he’s under Xaldin’s control, Riku in the first game, Riku Replica in CoM, “Ansem” at the end of KH2...heck, he’s even OK going up and talking to Hades to sign up for the Paradox Cup even after all the shit Hades has pulled. He also is known to give opponents chances to back off and survive, like Vexen and Demyx.

Despite the atrocities committed at Riku’s hand in the first Kingdom Hearts, Sora still sets out in Kingdom Hearts II passionately searching for the lost Riku. He is the only one who gets Sora’s all-encompassing forgiveness.

Yeah, because they’re best friends, close as brothers. And they already had the start of a reconciliation at the end of the original game, when they closed the Door to Darkness. Exactly what’s your argument here? That if Kairi was to inexplicably go evil, Sora wouldn’t give her a pass or forgive her? Because if you believe that, then you’re a (bigger) dumbass!

The final boss sequence of Kingdom Hearts II could have easily pitted Sora solo against Xemnas.

Um, why? The previous final bosses didn’t have him go solo. Why would this?

One of Xemnas’s most common attacks involves grabbing Sora with an electrical field and holding him in place while he slowly drains the boy’s health. During these segments, players are given full control over Riku as he makes his way across the battlefield to rescue his friend. “Rescue” is even the word used for the command you must input to free Sora. It’s one thing to have these boys tell each other how they feel; it’s quite another to see them act it out in a climactic battle sequence.

Rescuing your friend is now apparently a big, earth-shattering deal. Um, OK.

You realize any character can rescue one another in battle, right?

The team-up offers an insight into the dynamics of their friendship. Giving Riku more of the heavy lifting in their combo attacks—breaking the buildings and hurling them at Xemnas as well as having to rescue Sora from the electrical attack—sets him up as the more protective of the two. Sora is active while Riku is reactive, and in the same way he spends all of the game trying to avoid Sora, he spends the final battle allowing Sora to set up powerful attacks for Riku to execute. And by having Sora be incapacitated and requiring rescue says something about how the developers want players to view their relationship. In the end, Sora will always need Riku. Riku’s presence makes Sora more confident, makes him stronger and more sure of himself. We see more of this feeling in Dream Drop Distance, where Sora fails his mission and needs Riku to bail him out, but the first seeds sprout in Kingdom Hearts II.

FUCK OFF. You’re falling into the common “seme/uke” yaoi stereotype for Riku and Sora here. For as much as you disparge Kairi for needing saving by Sora (while ignoring the times she saves him), you seem to actually get off on the idea that Sora always needs saving by Riku. I highly doubt the developers wanted you to think about the relationship like this, Nomura even said the main reason it happened was just because a lot of fans back then wanted to play as Riku, the same reason Reverse/Rebirth mode happened in CoM. Ironically, by the time of 3D, Riku’s popularity in Japan had died out, and the game didn’t sell so well.

Setting the boys up as partners in the final boss fight—literally your final act as a player—telegraphs to us that the game is about Sora and Riku’s friendship.

No. It’s one of the big themes of the game and what takes precedence in the last act, but to say that the ENTIRE GAME is about it and ignore all the other rich content that is packed into the game does it a disservice. I again ask why you even wrote a book about this game. Was it just to push your personal fangirl fantasies? We already have Tomoco Kanemaki for that!

You can’t tell either boy’s story without the other.

Tell that to CoM and 358/2 Days...or this game, where we hardly see a “story” for Riku.

Their friendship, Sora’s desire to find Riku, and Riku’s desire to protect Sora by only helping him from the shadows, is what drives the story forward and what lays down the game’s emotional foundation.

Really? Because it had nothing to do with Roxas’ story, or Axel’s story. Or the story of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee. Or Organization XIII’s plans. Or Mickey’s own quest and connection with Ansem the Wise. Or many events in the Disney worlds. Or...yeah, you get the message. Once again, you simplify a wonderfully complex, multi-layered game and boil it down to a yaoi story. I doubt you’d BE a KH fan if not for the yaoi-bait given this pattern of behavior. I hate to play the “True Fan” card, but...you’re not a True Fan. You don’t get it.

Following the final battle, as they sit on the edge of oblivion, Sora and Riku confess their feelings to each other.

And you deliberately phrase it romantically. More lying.

This climactic scene isn’t Sora and Kairi confessing their love

You realize that 1.) There’s still a series to go for that to happen, 2.) Nomura doesn’t want romance and shipping to be the main focus, and 3.) We actually get a credits scene where Sora sees that Kairi has returned his feelings with the chalk drawing on the cave wall.

We see her again in the very last scene welcoming Sora back to Destiny Islands, but the sweetness of her homecoming words is outshined by this exchange between the boys on a dark beach.

Which is a fact, not at all an opinion. And this is not sarcasm, not at all!

They’ve won the fight, and they don’t know if they’ll be able to return home.

And who ends up being the catalyst for them coming home and not dying? KAIRI.

While Riku and Sora are not in love, the boys’ friendship is one of the deepest and most moving relationships of any kind that I’ve seen in a video game. And part of why it works is because it’s not a romance. Without sexual tension or expressed desire of any kind, these relationships appear as the deepest forms of male intimacy: mutual dependence, connectedness, and respect.

LMAO! After all this, you’re now trying to claim you’re not a yaoi fangirl and that you understand and accept that Sora and Riku are not in love and their feelings not sexual!?

You aren’t fooling anyone, Alexa. You’re the typical obnoxious, toxic KH yaoi fangirl. Own it.

Kingdom Hearts II is the tale of these broken bonds becoming whole and being used as power against the creeping darkness. As Sora says in the first Kingdom Hearts, “My friends are my power.” Kingdom Hearts II proves that for Sora and Riku, this will always be the case.

And for Sora and Kairi, and Riku and Kairi, and Sora, Donald and Goofy, and Mickey, Donald and Goofy, and Mickey and Riku, and Riku and DiZ, and Roxas and Hayner, Pence, and Olette, and Roxas and Axel, and...OK, I’ve already made this point before, I’m done now.

Bottom line: this so-called fan lies with reckless abandon, omits key facts, presents her opinions as truth, and completely maligns the entire rest of the game just to prop up the one aspect she feels dominates all others and that other players should feel the same way about it as she does. To all True KH Fans, avoid her, her book, and future writings like the Plague!

#Disney #Square Enix #Kingdom Hearts #Sora #Riku #Kairi #Alexa Ray Corriea #Yaoi Shipping #Fandumb #Stupidity #Hypocrite #Analysis #Objection #Correction #Anti-Alexa Ray Corriea

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galileosunshine · 6 years

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Hi! I want to get into Love Live but I don’t know how to. Can you please give some advice?

Waaah I’m honestly not sure if I’m the right person to ask about this?? I’m not really a big name in the fandom by any means! But I’ll do my best to help!

Love Live has so many aspects to it, so it can be kind of overwhelming when you’re first getting in! The way I see it, there’s kinda 4 main parts of Love Live! First there’s the anime which tells the story! There’s the music, because LL releases music under an official label, and there are many songs aren’t in the anime! Then there’s the app game! And then there’s a bunch of stuff relating to the seiyuu (voice actresses).

The good news is you can choose which parts of it to partake in and which not to, and at what pace/timing that’s good for you ^^

Starting with the anime is maybe the most obvious way! There’s two series, the original Love Live! and also Love Live! Sunshine!! Each series is about 9 girls who form an idol group to save their school from closing down! The original series focuses on a group called Muse, and Sunshine is about a group called Aqours!Each series has two seasons, and there’s a movie that comes between the two series (a movie is coming out for Sunshine soon as well!)

Starting with the anime makes sense cus you get to know the story and each character and their personalities! Finding out your “best girl(s)” is also a big thing! And often times you can orient your other LL decisions around your best girl (more content to look for, buying merch, scouting for cards in the app game, etc.)! Also, ships are a big part of the fandom, so watching the anime first helps to start figuring out what pairings you like!

Of course, you don’t have to start with the anime! There’s also the app game called Love Live School Idol Festival (LLSIF for short)! It’s a rhythm game, and also a card collecting game, and it has an in-game story too (differing slightly from the anime). There’s two versions of the game, a Japanese one and a worldwide one in English, but don’t worry the only difference is language, and EngSIF is behind on cards and events, which is a given. Obviously, start with the English one XD. There’s a tutorial, but here’s a general guide if you need it!

I think these two places are the best places to start! The main advantage with starting with the game is you can get exposure to LL’s music, and there’s a huge amount of songs that like I said, only a fraction is included in the anime! Eventually though, the anime is necessary to really know the characters (and the plot of LL of course)!

As for music, Muse and Aqours have a gigantic discography, so it’s pretty hard for anyone to just sit down with a huge list of songs to listen to lol. So to me the musical aspect of LL is more of a natural outgrowth of watching the anime and playing the game, and hearing the songs from those two things first!

But for when you start wanting to delve into all the songs of LL, here’s two complete lists of all of them on the LL Wikia: for the original Love Live! series and for Love Live! Sunshine!! (you have to scroll down a bit to see). These two lists link to pages with the audio for every song and its translation, so you can literally listen to all of LL’s songs on the Wikia!

(Side note, the Wikia contains a lot of extra content and information in general, so do explore it sometime?)

What makes LL’s music so expansive is that, besides the songs that are in the anime and those that Muse and Aqours release as “full-units” of 9, they also break up into groups of 3, or “sub-units,” which releases songs as well! And then there’s also solo song relases, and duo or trio songs with different combinations of members! And then there’s special songs that come from the Blu-rays or what have you! Basically there’s a lot, so have fun journeying through them!

I think by then, you’re already well into LL, and can pretty much participate in most fandom things!

The last thing is the seiyuu’s themselves, and this is for when you really want to go in deep, and it’s totally ok if you never go this far! But in case you’re interested, I’ll talk about them too!

There’s a whole bunch of content related to the seiyuu of the LL girlsl, which makes Love Live not just an anime about idols, but also with real idols too!….at least somewhat! Like 2.5D idols, hahaa….

The seiyuus host livestreams (sometimes called Niconamas), where they read fan letters and talk about news, but ALSO play games and do improv segments and just generally get into extremely funny antics!

Take your time going through this compilation of Translated Voice Actress Content on the Wiki! I’ve compiled this video playlist of the Aqours seiyuus in Niconamas and some of their mini Lives, that I’ve put in (mostly) chronological order and are (mostly) all subbed, and which I try to keep the playlist up to date on!

The seiyuus also do other programs, most notably radio programs like NozoEli’s Radio Garden, and for Aqours, Uraraji. There use to be a bunch of subs for these on youtube, but unfortunately due to copyright strikes recently these were taken down. But the subber, Kuurin, has started reuploading these videos on Vimeo, so go here to check them out! (Hopefully Uraraji will start being reuploaded soon!)

Finally, the biggest thing is that the seiyuu’s put on Lives and perform all the songs as their characters! They’re practically real idols themselves! Thanks to the hard work of fan subbers, you can download them or find links to download them from Team Onibe’s site. Onibe subs so much content for LL so bless them!!!

Following the seiyuus is almost a separate thing in itself (I’m slowly getting pulled into idol culture in general because of it haha…), but the seiyuus really bring their characters to life and it’s also amazing and inspiring to see how hard they work!

Ok, phewy that’s a lot! But hopefully all the details help!There’s other things too, like manga adaptation and magazine publications and merch, but please don’t stress yourself! There’s no need to feel like you need to play “catch up”. I only mention because I want to let you know that there’s so much to look forward to!

Just enjoy everything there is at your own pace! Love Live and the fandom has become such a big and important part of my life, and I hope you come to love it as well! Best to you i ^^

#Anonymous #Love Live!#Love Live! Sunshine!!#ask

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gunnerpalace · 7 years

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Have you seen the vid 'Shonen Anime's Biggest Problem' by Reality Punch Studios? Bleach is briefly mentioned in it and the guy basically says that Kubo did a great job with the plot and characters during the Soul Society arc, but then later failed with all the other arcs after it. Thoughts?

I haven’t, but that’s pretty accurate. This is long, but fuck it, I want people to see it.

Karakura I: Great! Minor flaws, e.g., Ichigo leaving Rukia to fight Shrieker while he escorted Karin, rather than having the clearly less-than-combat effective Rukia do so, and learn about Ichigo; not covering a whole month of their time together (including Ichigo’s birthday); ultimately dispensing with Tatsuki’s importance to the plot; could have probably stood to be about twice as long to show more of Ichigo and Rukia’s early relationship and flesh out relations with the nakama more.

Soul Society: Great! No real flaws until the end, e.g., you just killed off Central 46 and had a great upheaval in the power structure of the to-date main antagonists; this was the perfect time to have some exposition on them (e.g., who the other two Great Noble Houses are, what their role in Central 46/Soul Society is aside from being strong, etc.); good pacing, dramatic, memorable and contained fights, even for supporting characters (e.g., Uryuu vs. Mayuri, Renji vs. Byakuya).

Karakura II/Arrancar: Not so great! So, Ichigo’s just spent his summer break, what, moping over “the Hollow?” Why does everything in this series revolve around no one (Kisuke, Isshin, Juushirou, Yamamoto, etc.) telling Ichigo what the fuck is going on and just solving the problem? One of the only times I can remember an authority figure just saying “We’re here to do X because Y,” is Toushirou in this arc, so good for him? The fights against the Arrancar are when Bleach started to go bad with F I G H T S N O B O D Y C A R E S A B O U T ™ because they don’t involve the protagonists. Grimmjow was an effectively introduced villain even though he’s really just Kenpachi + Zangetsu (”Shirosaki”). The moments with him, Ichigo, and Rukia were good. The Visored were neat but were ultimately a waste. Most damningly of all, Orihime didn’t learn a goddamn thing from going to an alternate dimension and watching Ichigo almost die over and over to save Rukia.

Hueco Mundo/Fake Karakura+: Really bad! When FNCA became a real problem. Just all kinds of shit that didn’t matter and wasn’t satisfying. The entire premise of them being there was stupid, as was the entire structure of the war. Aizen’s grand scheme turned out to be a bunch of bullshit. Overall just a terrible inversion of the Soul Society arc featuring a bunch of poorly-realized villains that were way overhyped. (Also, the final demonstration of the worthlessness of the Visored!) Our protagonists had to be rescued for the plot to continue on stupidly. (This can work, e.g. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, but this isn’t the way to do it.) An unsatisfying conclusion that explained nothing about why what happened, had.

Lost Substitute Shinigami: Garbage. Okay, this arc has some great character-building for Ichigo and Rukia, and Xcution have memorable designs. I like Riruka. Ginjou, Giriko, and Tsukishima are really hateable villains. I like Ikumi. But. But. Fullbring is dumb and makes no sense, or needed to be introduced much earlier. The story of the substitute Shinigami is dumb and doesn’t fit well with what we know. The contrivances necessary to make Bleach work like a horror manga are ridiculous and just make the adults around Ichigo (e.g., Isshin, Ryuuken, Kisuke, Yoruichi, Shinji, et al.) look like fucking negligent assholes at the same time as Ikumi is telling Ichigo to trust adults. Also, the way the time skip was handled was that it wasn’t. It literally never gets addressed outside of about a dozen panels. It speaks to my heart but it wasn’t well-executed (hah!) at all.

Thousand-Year Blood War: Total shitshow where everything is on fire. The Sternritter were awful and utterly lacking in interest. (They’re all amoral psychopathic murderers, whoo!) FNCA go on forever, nobody does anything of importance, Ichigo and Rukia barely appear for large sections of it, and nothing sensible or satisfying happens except for an explanation of Ichigo’s powers that, while making a kind of sense, still doesn’t really explain anything. Don’t get me started on the ending, that requires War and Peace to fully deconstruct with how it doesn’t fit any of what came before.

If Kubo was just going to stop the manga, he should’ve stopped it after Soul Society arc. He couldn’t, because Aizen was still on the run, but if Aizen had been taken out there, it would’ve been okay. Open-ended, maybe an epilogue panel or page of Rukia putting on civilian clothes to see Ichigo again. Cool.

If he was going to stop after the Aizen saga, he should’ve done that. Again, an open ending. You could maybe have an epilogue of Ichigo thinking he sees Rukia out of the corner of his eyes over time. Whatever.

But no, this guy had a plan. Bleach is kinda like The X-Files, in that there’s a bunch of episodes, and then an overarching plot arc, except instead of being episodic, it’s archic; a bunch of small arcs under a larger one. The larger arc is that Soul Society, and existence itself, is fucked up. The smaller arcs are about what passes for “mundane” or “the usual” within this fucked up existence.

That alone probably answers your question, but I’m me, so I’m going to continue on to talk about what I want to talk about.

WHAT THE FUCK WAS BLEACH ACTUALLY ABOUT?

Let me explain my theory of what Bleach was supposed to be about, before Kubo got bogged down in thinking he was Tolkien II Turbo DBZ edition and got his series cancelled with his fuckery.

There’s this interesting video about how, in The Matrix, Neo isn’t “the One,” but rather, Smith is.

youtube

The Architect tells Neo that he’s the sixth “Anomaly” which resets the Matrix. Their arrival is expected and anticipated. Smith, unwittingly “created” by Neo, is what causes this particular iteration of the Matrix to end very differently than the previous five.

Okay, what the fuck does this have to do with Bleach?

Check it out: Ichigo (and Rukia) is (are) the One. That is to say: they’re Smith. The planned outcomes, the “Anomalies,” were Aizen and Yhwach.

They would go about their plans, get up to the Royal Realm, and then be summarily murdered by Zero Division and turned into the new Soul King, as a Soul King only lasts a certain amount of time and needs periodic replacement. (Check how old and busted the current one is.) This is why Zero Division gave zero fucks about whatever happened down below: it not only didn’t matter to their outcomes, it was necessary. (Kind of like Soul Society requires suffering to work properly.)

There’s evidence of this in Sajin and his grandfather. Their existence is never explained, but Clifford the Big Red Dog says “The world’s ‘bearer’ will simply change. We won’t change. No matter who holds the world. All we can do is lay low.” This is strikingly similar to The Merovingian and his motley crew of exiled programs from previous iterations of the Matrix: they are remnants of a bygone age, after successive resets.

What resets Soul Society (or possibly reality) is swapping Soul Kings.

Now what fucks everything up and makes this time different is the existence of Ichigo and Rukia. Ichigo is directly created by the fuckery of Aizen and Yhwach, much like Agent Smith was turned into Smith. The existence of Yhwach’s descendants, plus Aizen’s machinations, produces an unplanned-for feature. Something new. He’s easy to explain.

But Ichigo isn’t alone. He would’ve never gotten anywhere without Rukia. And Rukia is harder to explain.

Now Aizen says “The ‘true’ power of the Hougyoku is to read the minds of those around it and make manifest of what it finds there. […] You don’t understand? I’m saying that all of the ‘miracles’ that have occurred surrounding Kurosaki Ichigo, Kuchiki Rukia, and Urahara Kisuke thus far were manifested by the Hougyoku’s will.“ He goes on to say "And then I, armed with a hypothesis about the Hougyoku’s abilities, sent Kuchiki Rukia in the direction of Kurosaki Ichigo. Of course, there are limits to its abilities. The Hougyoku manifests what’s in the minds of those around it. But this will not happen unless the subject inherently possesses the power to fulfill their desire. By that token, this could also be called the ‘power that guides people toward their desires.’ … But living creatures are strange, they are made in such a way that they can actualize only what their minuscule minds wish for.”

First, notice how utterly fucking pissed Isshin is. Nothing else makes him remotely this upset. Nothing to do with Grand Fisher or Yhwach makes him even fractionally this agitated.

Now, stop and think for a moment. Does what Aizen said actually make sense? The Hougyoku does what those around it want, but it can only do so through what they are capable of. He also says that the Hougyoku has begun to understand his will… only just prior to explaining all this. Why does Aizen think he was previously outside of the Hougyoku’s influence?

Kisuke’s incomplete Hougyoku was hanging out in Rukia for a long time; presumably, out of anyone, it understood her will best. Aizen sent Rukia to Ichigo? No. Rukia wanted to go to Ichigo, and Aizen was the means to facilitate that, which coincidentally accorded with his desires too. Aizen is confusing cause and effect here through his own hubris.

How did Rukia know of Ichigo? Well, you could say she was looking for someone like Kaien. But there are inevitably many people like Kaien in the world and it could’ve guided her to any one of them. It took her to the only person who could do something about the world, which Rukia saw as fundamentally unjust. But how would the Hougyoku know about Ichigo? From reading Aizen’s mind? Maybe, but can it understand things like genealogy and ghost genetic engineering? It’s much simpler to say that it saw their connection.

I’m not going to relitigate all the material in Bleach which asserts that Ichigo and Rukia are connected and fated to meet one another, like the Sand and the Rotator chapters. But it’s out there, and the Hougyoku knew, so it put them together and warped everything around it to make that happen; to execute Rukia’s will, not Aizen’s.

My feeling is that Rukia and Ichigo form a single unit for the purposes of reality-disruption. They are the Pair, rather than Smith’s the One. Surprise, this is why Kisuke leaves it to them when he thinks he’s gonna die. He’s like the Oracle. Or something, this analogy is getting a bit loose.

Also, Ichigo’s whole thing is power, and Rukia’s whole thing is control. You might say they’re like a power source and a regulator. Water and a water wheel. Sand and a rotator.

So, much like Smith, they were going to change the outcome of their iteration in a way that couldn’t have been foreseen.

Then Kubo got his series cancelled because he spent too long drawing Doctor Juggalo fighting a giant hand, and Sword Hobo fighting Imagination Boy and Thor, so none of that happened.

tl;dr Kubo’s inability to stop himself from fucking with unimportant characters and unimportant plots, i.e., getting bogged down in the minutiae, is exactly what killed Bleach, along with trying to be too clever by half with things like Hueco Mundo as inverted Soul Society. Dude lost the plot and couldn’t see his own damn forest for the trees.

#Asks #Bleach #IchiRuki

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sg2tiger · 7 years

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Analyzed the fuck out of all meta/magic scenes and whatnot in the prior Episodes (especially EP2) and if i were a person who experienced Umineko as it released, I can see how that would be a little too much of a task to ask your readers to undergo. You can't exactly ask people to spend 10-20 hours of their lives analyzing a novel just to figure out what it really means. Its much easier to do that when its done. (cont)

“You can’t exactly ask people to spend 10-20 hours of their lives analyzing a novel just to figure out what it really means.”

*sweats nervously*

Well, I honestly don’t agree with this, and hope this isn’t what it seems like I’ve been trying to imply when I talk about how upset the sentiment about Ryukishi and EP8 was at the time. In fact, it’s the opposite - people did spend countless hours of their lives trying to analyze the novel. Like, I’ve mentioned this before, but I was only on the Umineko Train for 2 years before it ended because I got in between EP4 and 5. If you think of the people who got into Umineko from the start (mostly people who already loved Higurashi), that’s four years of their lives. And when I say years…I do mean years. Because speaking from experience, I literally did devote multiple hours, every day, over those two years, to doing Umineko stuff. It could be dumb shit like all the Umineko Hell videos I made, or it could be all the times I sat down and wrote up huge pages of notes about various theories, or all the time I spent on the AnimeSuki forums and in more threads on /a/ and /jp/ than I could possibly count. Far, far beyond 10-20 hours, I think most Umineko fans would tell you that all the time spent analyzing the story is where the fun came from to begin with.

The problem was the lack of payoff, and the fact that it felt like our efforts were invalidated. I went into more detail on those issues in this post (the stuff under the Read More that was in response to yasuda-yoshiya), though, if you’re interested, because I’d rather just link that than writing another 10-page essay repeating the same sentiments :P But the TL;DR of it is that the problem wasn’t that making the readers analyze it was ‘asking too much’ - that analysis is what drove most people to the series in the first place. It was the fact that we felt like we came away with nothing to show for the countless hours we did spend analyzing it.

I think ‘waiting to do that when it’s done’ is the very thing Ryukishi didn’t want fans to do, because that means you’re not actually thinking for yourself and trying to reach an answer - you’re just a goat who wants the truth handed to you on a silver platter. And people like that, who aren’t actually reasoning and trying to understand the story on their own, don’t deserve the truth because they didn’t put in any effort to searching for it. I don’t disagree with Ryukishi on that at all. My problem lies with how dismissive he was to all fans who were upset with the lack of answers, as though all fans were waiting until they could see the answers without even trying to find it. It’s the fact that fans like me, who indeed I feel were the majority (at least in the western fanbase), who actually did struggle our asses off searching for the truth. We definitely weren’t saying ‘thinking is a pain just tell us the answers’, at all. All we wanted from the end was the ability to check the answers we reached after struggling for so long, to have some form of validation that said ‘you got it right’ or ‘you got it way wrong’, so we didn’t feel like everything was a waste of time.

I also think it’s a bit problematic to say that Ryukishi is somehow hindered by being Japanese, and that’s a dangerous line of thinking. I’m sure you didn’t mean anything negative by it, but realistically that’s like saying ‘Japanese authors are not nearly as good as western ones, Ryukishi’s talent is wasted because he wasn’t born in the west’. And well, I don’t think I have to explain why that starts to sound a bit…wrong.

Ryukishi is Japanese. First and foremost, he’s writing for fellow Japanese. His stories were always aimed at his own culture, and I remember how surprised he was to find out about Witch-Hunt and that Umineko was so hugely popular in the west to begin with. He’s not trying to look down on his peers and say ‘I’m better than you, and because you’re all Japanese, you’d never understand the COMPLEX topics in my stories’. In fact, I’d say it’s very much the opposite - Ryukishi would not be writing these stories at all if he wasn’t writing them for his fellow Japanese.

If you’ve read the Higurashi VN, you’ll know that the Kai arcs all had a personal afterword written by Ryukishi to the readers (the question arcs had Otsukaresama-kai, which was what Umineko’s EP1 tea party is supposed to remind you of). At the end of…I wanna say it was Minagoroshi-hen? He left a note about the importance of talking to people about your problems, and how this was something he wished could become a more widespread concept in Japan. Because it took so much effort just to get Satoko into child protective services because of Japan’s general ‘mind your business’ attitude, and because of Satoko’s own belief that her brother would come back if she shouldered all of this herself…it showed just how prevalent that sort of idea is in Japanese culture. Rika, too, is a huge example of that, and one of the main messages of the story (and Minagoroshi-hen specifically) was how Rika could have gotten so much further if she had actually talked to her friends about what troubled her sooner. Rena, too, in Tsumihoroboshi-hen. A big theme of Higurashi was trust and friendship, and talking to people instead of bottling up your problems. And it was also to be the one to talk to a friend, and help them, if you felt they needed it, rather than doing the standard Japanese thing of ‘it’s not my business’. Ryukishi was writing about these themes to try and send a message to his own people, to his own culture, and to maybe, if just a little, influence the thinking of his readers to help foster a new generation to break through some of these cultural taboos.

Higurashi would not work as a story if it wasn’t written by a Japanese man, to the Japanese people, as a story about Japanese characters…because these concepts are so important to understanding a lot of the major themes. Let’s say, instead, that Ryukishi had moved to the US and started writing Higurashi here. We don’t have a doujin industry, but let’s say he just published it as a fanfiction online, and it got a bit of a popular following. What do you think the reception would have been about the inherent themes of Minagoroshi-hen? Because I can absolutely envision a western comment section for it. “Why didn’t they just bust into her house and see that her uncle was lying?!” “If I were Keiichi and the others I’d have gone and kicked his ass” “Why would Rika rather keep quiet about Satoko than try to help her? I thought they were best friends?” And so on and so forth. I think a lot of people wouldn’t get why Minagoroshi-hen was such a long, dragged out process…because the western mindset for this sort of thing is so different. We can’t imagine that child protective services would be so passive!! The meaning of their struggle in that arc would just be totally lost - Hell, for all I know, that’s exactly what happened for western readers not super familiar with Japanese culture reading Higurashi for the first time (I say reading because if I recall, like most things, the anime sorta streamlined the whole thing for the sake of time and it didn’t seem like nearly as long of a process as it does in the VN and manga). I bet there were a lot of western fans who genuinely didn’t understand a lot of Higurashi’s themes, and this is no fault of their own. This is because Higurashi was written specifically with a Japanese audience in mind, an audience that wouldn’t need to have this attitude explained to them because it’s an inherent part of their culture.

I won’t pretend to be an expert on Japanese culture myself, of course, but I absolutely don’t think Ryukishi’s stories would work if they were actually written for a western market. Of course they both have a strong western fanbase, but I’d wager that only a small fraction of that fanbase is made up of people who weren’t already anime/manga fans. IE, people who already know a bit about Japanese culture because they’re already exposed to a lot of Japanese media. And while I think Umineko has a bit more western appeal in its themes than Higurashi (which is a very Japanese story in more ways than one), it was still clearly written for a Japanese audience, with a Japanese mindset. Again I go back to the fact that a big part of the issues in Umineko is that the family members never liked to talk about their personal problems. If they had come together and tried to talk and help each other, the tragedy could absolutely have been prevented. Yasu would have been able to come to terms with herself and not be pushed to the brink feeling like her life was hopeless. Battler and Rudolf could have made up much sooner, rather than waiting for 6 whole years. Rosa and Maria could have healed their mother-daughter relationship and try to come to terms with their own psychoses. The list goes on. So much of Umineko could have been prevented if the characters didn’t bottle up their personal problems…which, yeah, is something westerners can relate to and appreciate, but I think would be received much more strongly by a Japanese audience.

Ryukishi is Japanese. He writes for the Japanese. The fact that westerners latch onto that quality of his stories so much is certainly interesting, but to insinuate that somehow his own culture and the very mindset that drives him to write these stories is somehow hindering him…I can’t agree with that at all. I think it’s awesome that his stories are identifiable enough to reach a much wider audience than he could have ever expected…but to think that somehow his work would be better off if he wasn’t Japanese, or writing stories to appeal to his own culture? I think that’s a very mistaken viewpoint, myself.

#umineko #umineko no naku koro ni #higurashi #higurashi no naku koro ni #umineko spoilers #asks #down-the-rabbit-well #umineko asks

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hentaihunblog-blog · 6 years

Text

10 Most Overpowered Anime Protagonists – OtakuKart

New Post has been published on https://hentaihun.com/blog/2018/01/10/10-most-overpowered-anime-protagonists-otakukart/

10 Most Overpowered Anime Protagonists – OtakuKart

Anime has some interesting battles between good and evil. However, rule of thumb when creating a story, usually is “Good has to win.” This is true for anime, comics, video games, and almost everything. Because of this, when anime and manga are written, sometimes our lovable protagonists can become a little overpowered. Ok, way overpowered, but they still make for awesome fights and stories! So here I have my personal list of Top 10 Overpowered Anime Protagonists!

10.Kenshin Himura – Hitokiri Battousai

Kenshin is insanely overpowered even before the first episode. His title was “Battousai, the Manslayer”. He killed too many people to keep track of. Even after turning a new leaf and vowing to never kill again, he incapacitates almost any challenger in a matter of seconds. He is nearly invincible in battle because of his “godlike speed” as his opponents would say. He does struggle to win a few fights throughout the anime, but keep in mind he is always holding back because he won’t kill. He even carried a reverse blade sword which slows some of his techniques, though not by much. Kenshin is by far very overpowered in his respective anime, but keep reading to see more OP characters that defy laws of reason.

9.Inuyasha – Inuyasha

Inuyasha is a half demon, in a world filled with full-fledged demons enhanced with Shikon Jewel shards that multiply their powers exponentially. As bad of a disadvantage as that is, Inuyasha stills allows himself victory in almost impossible odds. He has the Tessaiga, a giant sword made from his father’s giant fang. This sword is huge, and Inuyasha swings it like its its bamboo. He also has amazing luck at mastering moves just in time to save the day. His choice attack is the “Wind Scar” it can slay 100 demons in one swing. Odds should be about even now. Now heres the nail in the coffin, Inuyasha’s sword is a seal that keeps his demon blood under control if you will, but once separated from his sword, he becomes a feral bloodthirsty demon that is near impossible to beat. He then fights with claws and uses his own blood as a weapon, to destroy all in his path and earning him the #9 spot on my list.

8.Natsu Dragneel – Fairy Tale

Natsu is a mage in Fairy Tail guild, one of the strongest guilds by the start of the show. He excels in Dragon Slayer magic and can replenish his power by eating his element, which happens to be fire. He has many moves that include engulfing himself in flames, spewing fire from his mouth, using fire to obtain flight abilities and even making himself take on qualities of a dragon as far as endurance and flame resistance. Having fire and dragon qualities make him almost invincible to explosions and heat, and speaking of heat, the angrier he gets, the hotter his flames get, thanks to the “Flames of Emotion” Natus literally is a dragon in human skin and thus can’t be hurt like a normal mage or wizard. This is what makes him OP, because in his respective anime, a wizard’s weakness is almost always his vulnerable body, while Natsu is pretty darn durable. This earns him a comfy spot in my countdown.

7.Kenshiro – Fist of the North Star

Kenshiro isn’t one of the most popular characters, but he is one of the best to define the term Over Powered. He can kill someone with one touch. Not one punch; but one touch. He is a God of Death, by title. All who Hokuto Shinken masters are. Kenshiro possesses superhuman strength, speed, durability, stamina, and longevity as far as lifespan is. He is capable of atom destruction with Muso Tensei, and can just about master any other martial art or fighting style. This is OP by definition, and not to mention he lives in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, he’s fighting against mortal normal human beings. I use “normal” very loosely, but the only reason Kenshiro is #7 is that he lacks true flight, and is still susceptible to human diseases and sickness. He is also limited to a very advanced melee range and a few ranged ki attacks.

6.Ichigo Kurosaki – Bleach

Ichigo is an adept martial artist through training professionally and with his father. Even before harnessing his immense spiritual powers, he was an amazing fighter. He has a phenomenal growth rate as far as learning curves and master new abilities and even achieved Bankai in two days! Something that typically takes 10 years. Ichigo is one of the few characters on this list with the ability to fly, and he even has a transformation that makes an already highly powered character, near invincible. Ichigo is a terrifyingly powerful character because one his power is under control, he is a force never seen before in his respective anime, and many others.

5.Kami Tenchi – Tenchi Muyo

Tenchi is already a decent level fighter, but once he has control and awareness of his Kami form, he is near god level in strength and power. He can create and destroy atoms, super strength, psychic prowess, and overall spiritual awareness and manipulation. He is the literal God of the Tenchi universe continuity. This may be a cheap addition to the list, but he isn’t number one because this entity is working through a seemingly normal human who hasn’t fully mastered or grasped all the powers and abilities at his disposal.

4.Monkey D. Luffy – One Piece

Luffy is nearly a god in his own right considering the extent of his powers and they are still growing. He can harden his body and stretch it, and prety much make his entire being a weapon. He has gears that he initiates in order to become stronger. These are more or less transformations. He has superhuman durability, elasticity, super agility and expert combat knowledge though not typically that genius outside of battle. He has a crew of powerful people who were once enemies at some point, so he has mastered the art of nonlethal harm, and yet can destroy almost anything and anyone at will if he so chose to. Only notable weaknesses are inability to swim, and extreme vulnerability to hypnosis and tricky battle tactics. However, through his incredible strength and resilient spirit he comes in at #4 with my list.

3.Naruto Uzumaki – Naruto/Shippuden

Naruto is a hyperactive ninja with a mastery of shadow clones, and one of the most devastating jutsu known to his village and surrounding villages. He refuses to give up, he has amazing battle knowledge and intuition, and he can take a beating and keep getting up. He mastered just about all his jutsu in fractions of the times his teachers did and made them stronger. If thats not enough, he has a demon that is feared by the entire ninja world inside of him and sealed through his stomach. If he loses his temper, he can harness that power as well. If he runs out of his own chakra, he can harness that chakra as well. You’re going to lose no matter what. You have got to be the number one character on this list, and even then you have to be ready for Naruto to get back up and show you why the entire ninja world respects him.

2.Saitama – One Punch Man

Through immense training and determination, Saitama has become the strongest person by far in his respective anime. He defeats everyone effortlessly and often is bored by his heroic tasks. He boasts superhuman strength, speed, durability, and extreme combat knowledge.His only downers are, he doesn’t take anything seriously initially, he doesn’t have any actual martial arts training and his stamina is unknown, he hasn’t exerted himself enough yet. It wouldn’t be fair to give this seemingly invincible character the number one spot because there is a character that is possibly just as strong as him, or stronger but happens to face stronger enemies.

1.Goku – Dragonball Z

Goku is surrounded by some of the best fighters in the universe and somehow outshines them every time. He is an alien and possesses the bloodline of Saiyans. Saiyans are born to fight and bred to conquer. They’re lifespan is longer so that they may fight longer, and their bodies are more durable so that they may outlast any opponent, and they are born with the instinct to fight for any and all costs. Couple all those genetic advantages with a training fanatic, and a spirit no one can break and you have the strongest character in anime. Period. Goku also possesses the ability to transform to multiple levels, just in case you’re having a really good day. Also if you somehow beat him and don’t kill him, he gets stronger just for surviving. Literally, what doesn’t kill him makes him stronger. Goku is number one for a reason. Most OP protagonist ever goes to Goku from Dragonball Z. If you feel anyone else is stronger, ask yourself could they beat any of Goku’s stronger enemies?

Who is your fav?Lemme hear you guys out in the comment section below or if you wanna get in touch with me you can connect with me on social media like Snapchat-Vibsz16 and Instagram.

Siblings are the greatest gift for us also for Protagonist.So today I bring you the pair of Top 10 Most Amazing Pair Of Siblings In Anime. So let’s start our list.

10.Monkey D. Luffy and Portgas D. Ace – One Piece

Monkey D. Luffy has always had big shoes to fill, especially with his older adopted brother being the son of a former Pirate King. When they were young, Ace wasn’t so friendly to Luffy, but eventually, the two warmed up to each other and formed a strong bond that lasted throughout the series. Even though Luffy found himself caught up in turmoil resulting from Ace’s true lineage, their love still carries Luffy on his adventure to find the One Piece.

9.Ayeka and Sasami Jurai – Tenchi Muyo

These sisters are princesses from the planet of Jurai, but due to extreme circumstances find themselves living in the household of the title character Tenchi as with other alien girls. Ayeka is a well-mannered princess who is in love with Tenchi, while her younger sister is the most responsible member of the family and group as a whole. In between normal life and space traveling adventures, these sisters helped keep the family dynamic intact, keeping everyone together.

8.Ayame and Yuki Sohma – Fruits Basket

The Sohmas are a family who is cursed with turning into animals from the Chinese Zodiac, with these two brothers representing the Snake and the Rat respectively. Their personalities are completely different with the younger brother Yuki being more reserved and Ayame being highly flamboyant. Because Yuki had health problems as a child, Ayame ignored him and a rift grew between them, however as they got older Ayame tries to repair their relationship. Although it takes a bit of work he is able to close the gap between them.

7.Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha – Naruto

Sasuke grew up without his family because his older brother Itachi killed everyone else in their clan. Not knowing the reason Sasuke dedicated his life to killing his brother, even turning his back on his village and friends. As it turns out Itachi did this to save his brother, as the Uchiha clan were traveling down a path of self-destruction that would have dragged Sasuke down with it. He became a pariah and waited for the day when Sasuke would surpass and kill him to atone for his actions. Maybe next time you guys could just talk things out? No? Right… Anime.

6.Speed Racer and Racer X – Speed Racer

Racing is dangerous enough without having to deal with the aggressive drivers and evil masterminds that Speed Racer has to deal with on a regular basis. Good thing Speed has his brother Rex looking after him under the guise of the mysterious Racer X. Despite being one of the best racers, Racer X willingly gives up wins to help his brother out. Due to his actions Speed Racer suspects that Racer X could be his older brother, but he is never entirely sure.

5.Urd, Skuld and Belldandy – Ah! My Goddess

When Keichi Morisato asked the beautiful goddess Belldandy to be his girlfriend he didn’t know that they would soon be joined by her troublesome sisters; the inventor Skuld and the self-proclaimed goddess of love Urd. While Belldandy is quiet and reserved her sisters like to cause trouble with Skuld’s inventions or Urd’s “love” potions placing Keichi and Belldandy in wacky situations. Even with their conflicting personalities these sisters are inseparable and have fought demons and the forces of heaven just to stay together.

4.Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin – Ouran High School Host Club

These twins brothers are members of their school’s host club, a cafe where male students entertain female clients by playing out various fantasy roles like the pretty boy or the silent type. Hikaru and Kaoru play the parts of twin brothers who suggestively play the twincest angle in a way that makes their clients fawn over them. They are also a bit mischievous with a love for playing games including one where they make characters guess which twin is which. Go on guess we bet you can’t figure it out.

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