Category: anime

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Adaptation Confirmed

TiberiusLeave a comment

At last!

This week’s post was gonna be about more webcomics, but I kinda already talked about that last week. Country of origin be damned, there’s distinction between manhwa/hua and western webcomics, but there’s not a lot of difference. So instead, we’re following up on a nearly 2-year-old newspiece:

Funny enough, when the original ended a few months ago, many felt more cucked than the central character of an NTR hentai; part of this has to do with the gap in Japanese culture and western culture as well as the assumption that My Hero Academia was a western-style superhero-themed manga. To be fair, it presented itself as such playing homage to DC and Marvel, but the application of Japanese characteristics explains why most western readers were let down by the ending. What I mean is, (spoiler) Deku becoming a teacher instead of staying as a Pro-Hero feels like a slap in the face to over a decade of build-up and promise due to the punching bag most teachers in the west are compared to East Asian teachers who are held in the same regard as historical figures and heroes. Teachers in the east are seen with the same reverence as, say, George Washington or Winston Churchill.

That said, much of the MHA fandom was conflicted over how it ended. Personally, I initially gave it praise for not falling into the same traps as DC and Marvel have in the past (re- everything, f[gasp]ing hell), but over time it became a bit too much to follow. I lost track and playing catch-ups made me feel like Samurai Jack being sent to Aku’s future.

Vigilantes, on the other hand, had a tighter focus. Smaller cast, more mature atmosphere, a deceptively loose connection to the main series through characters, concepts, and/or key items, and a darker tone than the original’s high school setting. Summarizing s[neighs]t I said two years ago, college student Koichi Haimawari starts off as a friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man-like archetype doing it because it’s the right thing to do; he meets wannabe pop-star and tsundere-in-training Kazuho Haneyama and before the pair are nearly violently assaulted by a trio of anti-villainous thugs, Japanese Batman-like Knuckleduster knocks their skulls out of place in search of an illegal Quirk enhancer and offers (read: practically threatens) to tutor Koichi in the art of vigilantism. Much appreciated, but a date with a neck brace initially feels better than Peter Parker becoming angsty again.

I jest, it doesn’t get to this level, but it does explore themes that the original doesn’t delve very far into. It wrapped up its story with a neat and tidy ending, and is an interesting addition to MHA on the whole, along with the light novels, and spin-off, yonkoma parody. Yeah, it’s become a franchise since debut.

It was in 2023 where the rumors of an adaptation first circulated and I did report on it at the time, letting it sleep until I got official news from the horse’s mouth. Fast-forward to mid-January 2025, and the rumors are facts: My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is set for a spring 2025 release.

As far as reputations go, the fandom coupled with the writing of the last two quarters of the manga seem to have colored many people’s outside interpretations of the series. Not that it had a good leg to stand on initially; for all the praise it gets for helping to popularize new Shonen tropes, if you just got off a binge of the big 3 anime of yesteryear and expected badassery on every corner, then I can’t blame you if you were ever disappointed. Then again, the original’s deconstruction of Shonen tropes was what made it seem so fresh at the time. Deku doesn’t start off as a badass–instead he’s proof that heroes are made, not born. He’s basically what happens if you tell someone in the past that this scrawny weakling would become the best of the best in ten years time before being laughed out the room.

And that was an easy sell at launch. It and Demon Slayer have broken the mold with more empathetic protagonists, and as such have garnered their own opinions on such a trope. Koichi, on the other hand, doesn’t exactly have the most unrealistic goals imaginable: college student by day, local helper by night. At the risk of burying Deku under the cemetery, Koichi’s no starry-eyed kid with his head in the clouds. Being an All Might otaku, he does secretly dream of being a hero, but is content with being anything but the hero.

Over the course of the manga, this begins to morph into something more complicated tan what was originally stated. More characters, more intrigue, more mysteries unraveled; it makes the L.A. Noire plot look like a retelling of the Three Little Pigs. And out of respect for you, the reader, I refuse to spoil the main plot of the manga.

But what about the upcoming anime? Well, the manga fell into a bit of controversy over the depiction and treatment of select female characters, namely Kazuho Haneyama, alias Pop-Step. Notably her vigilante costume.

As you can see, Kazuho, who’s around 16 years old in chapter 1, wears this as her costume. The Pop-Step persona is meant to be a cutesy imp-like creature which, on reflection, makes me think of Ironmouse in a lot of ways. The original series had people crying foul over Horikoshi’s decision to have Momo show so much skin for her quirk to work, but in a weak defense, that was one of a few ways to get it down. (Some headcanons depict her as a shy exhibitionist unlike Midnight, IYKYK.)

Pop-Step has less reason to show her butt here. I had brushed it off as “animanga tropes” while I was reading it, but after some thought (and time), this doesn’t look very good. Couple that with the initial panels of her about to face a nasty assault or harassment and the criticism is as solid as Snake. Trust me, though, it does get better as the manga progresses, and to answer to an upcoming backlash, the animators have considered the following for a redesign of her costume:

Tights! Will it work for the anime? Time will tell. Does it work for me? I turned my brain off and let the story guide me each time I read another chapter so I didn’t put much thought into it until way later when the manga ended. For my recommendation, you’re better off letting the manga do the same and speak to you then go in with any expectations whatsoever. Even what you know about the original series is gonna get tossed out the window at the first panel. You know my shtick by now. Manga hosting pirate sites, physical volumes, etc., etc., though the former may help you get up to speed considering it has significantly less volumes and chapters — 126 spread across 15 volumes VS the originals 431 spread across 42. I have yet to see a box set of the whole franchise, but it’s only a matter of time before it gets a Naruto-like 3-in-1 omnibus manga treatment.

YouTube recommendations! I’ve been struggling to find some channels to have you all check out largely because what I watch these days is incredibly varied and I don’t like throwing people in at the deep end. I do still want to keep sending stuff your way and my crystal ball sees me recommending a series of sorts whether its on YouTube or not. Some candidates have had to axe their channels due to unwanted outside attention, others have simply moved on. And that makes this difficult.

This time, I thought I’d share what I’ve been watching. I’ve only got a few lined up for February now, but as time goes on I may do what I did in 2023 and do a bi-monthly recommendation system compared to what I had going on last year.

A channel that has my eyes is Stiff Lip Supplements. A series of humorous Army MOS ads masquerading as a satire, it’s a company whose videos are short form Zyn advertisements. You don’t necessarily have to be a servicemember or Zyn/snu user to get the gist of their humor. They know damn well that what they’re selling isn’t a miracle cure for the usual daily bollocks, but do offer to alleviate the headache only slightly. If you need a quick chuckle or you’re thinking about buying some of their merch (which does include apparel), the link is in the first line of this paragraph.

Anime I Haven’t Seen (Will I?)

Tiberius3 Comments

Onto something somewhat related

This blog is dedicated to various forms of entertainment. The default is the Japanese medium known as animanga — a portmanteau of anime and manga, or Japanese animation and comics/graphic novels — joined together with movies, video games, and more. Since I’ve begun this blog two years ago, it hasn’t deviated very much from this promise and so far I’ve given my opinions and recaps on all the series I’ve seen, games I’ve played, etc. But for something slightly different, there’s the subject of anime I have heard of through the grapevine (read: dedicated subreddits) but have yet to watch myself.

Not anime I have in the pipeline, mind you; anime I haven’t seen and don’t have concrete plans to do so. Now this isn’t an exhaustive list of animanga series. There’s always gonna be series being produced and adapted. Even as I type this, some madlad in Japan is hard at work crafting peak fiction. Whether that series becomes a hit, I cannot say. I’m not Shueisha, or Kadokawa, or Dark Horse Comics. So here, I’ll talk about series I’ve heard of and whether or not I may view them based on a variety of factors. If your favorite happens to be on here, forgive me if I’m not immediately convinced to give the viewing it deserves. Also, expect a few jabs here and there; it won’t color my opinions on the series in question. Keep in mind, the factors that play a part — fanbases included.

1. My Dress-Up Darling (2022-)

      Between The Saga of Yukana Yame and So, Like, Tokyo Ain’t the Only Place to Find a Gal, Ya Know?, I’m far from immune to the gyaru aesthetic and on my radar and my Reddit feed came The Gyaru That’s into Cosplays by none other than Shinichi Fukuda. To be fair, I checked out the more recent chapters on a whim after randomly delving into the dedicated subreddit. I was desperately curious to learn if there was more to the opening scene than just “introvert origin story” and sure enough there was. Not gonna spoil that, just read the manga or check it out on MangaDex if you’re impatient like moi.

      The basic gist is a young Wakana Gojo takes up hina doll sewing; a girl who thinks he’s cute discovers this and tells him he’s cringe and he learns to never share his passions again. A moment of silence for our star lead. Fast-forward to high school and a gyaru cosplay queen (who may or may not bare a striking resemblance to Sydney Manetapho (née Poniewaz)) named Marin Kitagawa discovers Wakana’s passion for sewing and requests his expertise to craft perfect cosplays. Over time, they fall into the “gradual lovers” trope from their own perspective, but slight spoilers from recent chapters, it evolves into the “everyone knows but them” trope. As in, they hang out so much that the surprise was that they weren’t dating prior to Kitagawa’s announcement of love, and it was inevitable that Kitagawa would let that cat out of the bag, as Gojo would be too embarrassed to tell the truth about how he feels. Not that he doesn’t want to be seen with a pretty girl like Kitagawa, more like if he’d confess, immediately slam his mouth shut, then pray to what he calls God to change the subject in .5 milliseconds.

      Channel: Crunchyroll

      It’s sweet, romantic, and one that I’m not too certain if I’ll ever get around to viewing. What kept me away was the hype. Audiences tend to be fickle and malleable and only those dedicated to a medium are gonna stick around long after the final episode of “Season 1” airs. The rest will move on because they can’t read. Now that the hype is at rest, I’m at a better position than I was to view it after clearing my current list (that perpetually expands like a f[bricks falling]king brick in the wall). Giving Light-footed Hojo a rewatch dubbed and watching Cute Girls Playing Music Cutely, whichever one I finish first (the former), I’ll have to replace it with Dress-Up My Gyaru Bestie.

      2. Fullmetal Alchemist (2003-04; 2009-10)

      The darling of anime with all the awards to prove it, like Gigguk I have yet to see this masterpiece for myself, but unlike Gigguk, I’m not waiting on an arbitrary moment in the far-flung future before I sit down and watch Halfplastic Wizardry. It lives on through the same tired-old memes about a girl and her dog, but more to the point, I would have nothing of value to contribute to the consensus. It’s like yet another European Theater WWII game. It’s not gonna stand out unless it does something extraordinarily unique and I doubt I’m the man to deliver. People love it, people hate it, people aren’t the most enthusiastic about it. That’s a lazy man’s consensus and much like my eventual venture into Pokémon decades later, I’m gonna find stuff I like and don’t like but otherwise not have strong opinions on Hiromu Arakawa’s masterpiece.

      Aside from praise for Winry, of course.

      3. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (2023-)

      Outside of living like an emperor on anime forums and subreddits, The Tale of the Racist Elf is known for doing a few things differently as hinted by it’s subtitle. Beyond Journey’s End as in, the story didn’t end after the DM declared the evil king dead. Acknowledging the after-story with engaging characters, Frieren runs with the concept and builds on as a sequel to a nonexistent story. Anyone can start a DnD campaign and see it through to the end, but I haven’t heard of anyone continuing long after the story has finished.

      Will I ever watch such a phenomenal show? If I was writing this before the adaptation was announced two years ago, probably yes. Now that it’s lived up to its promise, there’s no reason for me to put it off. Maybe I’ll do it by the Spring or Summer. Who knows?

      4. Redo of Healer (2021)

      Its reputation precedes it. It gained notoriety for various scenes involving emotional abuse and sexual deviancy, things I’m not opposed to in fiction, but the shark that keeps me away from the water comes from the fanbase. Outnumbered by the majority female fanbase, if what I’ve heard about the corrosiveness of the fujoshi community is to be believed, then in a nonsexual way, any man who wanders into territory where women are the majority (not necessarily target) demographic will be eaten alive.

      Contrary to the blog’s name, I avoid rocking the boat because it’s a damn good boat and as I said, there’s f[nom]king sharks in the water. Let me enjoy my limbs before I get tired of them. Now, there’s probably gonna be a few who recall the horny trio post from October and wonder why I’m drawing the line at Revenge of the Cock Slap. Well, between Rias’ boobs (where miracles happen), Anna Nishikinomiya’s legs (where Niagara Falls can be found) and Monster Musume (where slime girls exist), all of those have fun with the concept. White Mage Do-Over takes itself more seriously with the subject matter and while I’m not a kink-shamer, for once I have to put this image of Our Lord and Savior to address the fanbase.

      I’ll still keep my mind open if someone can convince me that How Dare You Boot Me from the Party is more than just a ginormous Lady Boner.

      5. Oshi no Ko (2023-)

      Another series with an interesting reputation online, I’m the furthest thing from the target audience for this. I barely keep tabs on western celebrities (except for some legacy names), I clearly have no business attempting to break into East Asian idol culture. And from what I know, I’ve seen enough of the business side. Oversimplifying the business of idols, they’re held to impossible ideals under sweatshop conditions to present a falsified image of themselves manufactured by their higher-ups for a worldwide audience. What makes this dangerous (apart from Oshi no Ko’s first episode) is that a select few deranged fans have learned the truth and, sucked in by the parasocial activity, took matters into their own hands; homicide, suicide, damn near terroristic threats when they learn that the idol in question was hiding children or a family or was probably a victim of sexual assault. I’d say, “what were they expecting,” but to add onto this, this can happen to anyone. You’ve definitely listened to a podcast and vibed so much with the hosts that you imagined they were beyond the screen or headphones. But they’re not.

      The insistence on perfection in idol culture and the “rug pull” at the lack of perfection keeps me looking in from the outside with disbelief and disappointment, and that’s just at the content. As for the fanbase, well, incest jokes are king in that corner, but unlike The Twisted Graves Siblings, there’s nothing close to dark comedy here. Again, I make known my normie status and I highly doubt I’ll check it out for myself, unless someone Saul Goodman’s an argument for this courtroom judge.

      Without malice or enthusiasm, I want to be convinced.

      Once again, there are other series that cross my path that I’m either on the fence about or fully committed to avoiding or not depending on multiple factors. I entrust fans of X to persuade me to join their creed, perhaps by presentation or whatever else works. They’re clearly convinced that their series of choice has merit, as am I so inclined to watch Lady Rias in action after so long, and I want to see what the hype is or was about. Maybe I can decide then if the series speaks to me with certainty.

      My Best Girls 3×3

      TiberiusLeave a comment

      Inter-holiday shenanigans

      Once again, I open the door to personal opinions, not about a particular series, but on a series of characters who’ve won me over. Observe!

      From left to right going down, we have Kagura, Konata, Izumi, Miyuki Kobayakawa, Asa Mitaka, Lady Rias Gremory, Minami Fuyuki, Tohka Yatogami, Anna Nishikinomiya, and Asuka Langley Soryu. There’s a runner-up who doesn’t fit into a 3×3 and would thus make this into a Top 10 List. I’ll introduce her at the end, so while you’re reading this, have fun guessing who the tenth inductee is. Here’s a hint: she’s covered head-to-toe in scars.

      Now the breakdown:

      Kagura (Azumanga Daioh) 2002

      Physically, Kagura has what I like most: tan, tomboy, athletic. Personality-wise, she proves that she deserves to be a knucklehead alongside Tomo and Osaka, as their combined IQs makes up a toddler’s smallest shoe size. But with the three of them getting one-shotted by Stephen Hawking before he has time to think, what does Kagura bring out that I like so much? She’s not a bad sport and a good friend. Not the most effective at times, but she’s got the spirit to help out. Definitely the energy to; on a scale of Osaka to Tomo with Osaka being low-speed and Tomo being Speed Racer, Kagura is a NASCAR driver: she can get her engines primed and ready, but knows better than to overload them.

      She’s also more introspective and self-aware than that other scoundrel she spends time with.

      Credit: u/crawllinback2you1, r/azudaioh

      Kagura’s moments of brilliance and reliability come from helping her friends for the most part. My favorite has to come from when Sakaki was in danger once again from the alley fiend Kamineko until Kagura applied a tender touch. Yay! Only to go overboard and antagonize the rest of the harmless kittens. Damn… Well, her heart was in the right place. Also, r/azudaioh, and r/AzumangaPosting are the two golden sources of Azumanga memes. Only the fanbase could carry a 20-year-old 4-panel series to newer heights, further bolstered by Kiyohiko Azuma’s impeccable comedic style.

      Kagura > Tomo. Signed, a Kagura enjoyer.

      Now, onto Dollar Store Haruhi Suzumiya:

      Konata Izumi (Lucky Star) 2007

      The Suzumiya thing ain’t a joke, it’s the focal point of one of the OVAs. She’s the otaku that would take over any other series where being an otaku is what it’s all about, like, say, Genshiken. Lucky Star is a show that is about three things: jack f[door slams]king shit. The characters talk about nothing important, they’re not fantastical; they’re you and me. They do regular things that we all do, and ask all the important questions our society dares not answer: How do you eat a chocolate cornet?

      Channel: Crunchyroll Dubs

      It’s a good time all around.

      I would never say that Konata is the main element in Lucky Star because that’s not true. The entire cast shines mainly by bouncing off of each other quite well, but what makes Konata my favorite is that she’s so chill. She has few worries, doesn’t do well academically, but could give you all the anime recs you could ever ask for, some of which may come from her own dad’s collection, and that last part I personally find relatable. My mom was a young adult when Dragon Ball came to the west and my late uncle grew up with Speed Racer. Like Konata, I’m a born weeb. It was the only path I could walk on. And the one thing the series shares with Azumanga Daioh is that the fanbase is also carrying it to new heights.

      Credit: baalbuddy

      Merciful heavens! What a crossover!

      Number 3:

      Miyuki Kobayakawa (You’re Under Arrest) 1994-97; 2007-08

      Before we dissect Officer Kobayakawa as a character, I want to spend a few moments analyzing the character design. She doesn’t stand out as much visually compared to Tsujimoto or Nikaido or even Nakajima when they’re all in uniform, but the few scenes where she’s off-duty, she’s a very stylish woman. Her outfits are simple, practical, and efficient. They match her kind and book-smart personality. Kobayakawa doesn’t wear her heart on her sleeve like her wingwoman Tsujimoto; if Tsujimoto is the brawn, Kobayakawa is absolutely the brains.

      An intellectual with impeccable observational skills, she’s a great policewoman and a great friend to all her co-workers. Now if she could just tell Nakajima how she feels already.

      The entire precinct wants to greenlight their wedding ceremony already, they’re just maddeningly patient for their own good.

      Numbuh 4:

      Asa Mitaka (Chainsaw Man) 2018*

      *The manga debuted in 2018, and MAPPA is supposed to be animating the second season… Gotta wait and see what the cooks are cooking.

      I’ll be honest, I originally wasn’t that sold on Chainsaw Man as seen by this post I made last year. I still stand by my opinions that it’s what Black Torch could’ve been if it hugged the dark atmosphere tighter than a fussy mom, but learning at the time what was the craziest moment in the manga (later surpassed because Fujimoto’s life is Anti-chill), I decided to continue the manga from where the anime left off and my original assessment might not have been as fair. It still reeks of Black Torch’s ashes, but its still in serialization.

      Maybe next time, Takaki-san…

      Asa stars in the second part of the manga after spoilers. Wants to be seen as regular, but her own mindset gets in the way. Things happen after an encounter with the Justice Devil. Asa is possessed by the War Devil, who talks to her through hallucinations, and grants her the ability to make a weapon out of anything she touches. So far, I interpret that as “anything” not “anyone” due in part to this moment in the manga:

      Yoru is probably dumber than we think.

      I’m still playing catch-ups with the manga, so I’m not sure how much more Asa has learned of her abilities. For her personality, ignoring all the autistic femcel memes (hilarious as they are), Asa’s complicated but like any naïve youngster, she can’t help but be a slave to her own assumptions, about herself, about her peers, about Denji and the rest of the cast. You could brush the rest of humanity over with this paintbrush of sorts, but personally the phrase “stranger things have happened” would be a good one for her to learn.

      And she does show a willingness to learn, even if her teachers and mentors are all s[seagull calls]t. Not just that their teachings are bad, but more so that some of the best lessons she takes come from general assholes. Something something, do as I say, not as I do moments. Blah blah blah…

      If it sounds like I’m being light on her compared to another character, well she really can’t help but be a dumb, inexperienced kid. The Chainsaw Man world may be Satan’s best joke, but it’s still worth exploring more than just her corner of Japan. Hell, some wacky omake or OVA could put her and Denji in Hawaii or something. For what I like most about her, her arc is an interesting one to watch. From easy-pickings to “I wasn’t asking,” coupled with Yoru the built-in double act since Denji, Nayuta, and Fami aren’t always available to annoy her.

      The middle one goes last. The real 5th one:

      Minami Fuyuki (Hokkaido Gals are Super Adorable) 2024

      The gyaru front is bringing us several surprises, and it seems to have been doing so for quite some time. I’ve talked about gyaru animanga before, and I’m destined to continue to do so for as long as we get more and more series. I don’t remember what attracted me to Hokkaido Gals, but I’m certain it was either 2022 or ’23 as I was halfway through the manga by the time the anime was announced.

      Fuyuki may be the face of the series, and I definitely see the appeal of Sayuri and Natsukawa-senpai. But what I really like about Fuyuki is that she has such an attractive personality. She’s fun to be around, a kind, party girl who likes fashion and her native Hokkaido climate. She’s no genius, but like Kagura she has her heart in the right place. Also the dub gave her a Minnesotan accent that blew me backwards at first, but grew on me. I’m pretty sure most anime do this to emphasize different Japanese accents and dialects to unfamiliar ears (see Ayumu “Osaka” Kasuga for more details), but if you ask me, the “rural/hick” label is thrown around too broadly. I don’t know if Japan does it themselves or if the localizers do, but anyone who’s not from Tokyo or Kyoto automatically gets the equivalent of a funny cowboy accent for some reason. Guess it’ll make sense when I’m reincarnated as a Kansan, but what can you do?

      The sixth:

      Tohka Yatogami (Date a Live) 2013-24

      Official art could’ve been used, but this Nendoroid caught my eye and was too adorable to ignore.

      One of the many faces of the series itself, Tohka was the first spirit introduced from the spatial quakes and the one that holds onto Shido probably tighter and for longer than the other girls. She’s got the strength of 15 buffalo and the personality of a puppy. Happy Tohka lights the room, sad Tohka plunges it into vantablack, angry Tohka gives us the world from the mid-2000s animation Skyland; she’s also on the ditzy side admittedly, but she doesn’t carry a lot ill will in her heart. Looking back now, she makes me think of Shikimori from her series. 10/10, ready to throw down for her man, perhaps even save him from getting Isekai’d. Beware her strength though, the girl could bench press Fukuoka Tower without limits.

      七番目：

      Anna Nishikinomiya (Shimoneta) 2015

      I held back on the crazy waifus by flooding this one with girls that you could hang out and be best buds with before getting a chance to romance them (thus it is the correct way to do things). But here, I’ll give out a yandere.

      Anna Nishikinomiya is the Student Council President, so pure of heart, she can’t see anything wrong with a lewd painting of a woman with a toadstool in between her perky boobs. One day, she is accidentally kissed, and develops a MIGHTY NEED to milk Tanukichi dry and empty.

      If it wasn’t for Tanukichi’s support system of daring and curious classmates, he would’ve been toast.

      Anna would be on a sex offender registry in another world with a bevy of sex-related crimes under her belt. Maybe in jail she continually obsesses over Tanukichi, busts herself out, and goes on a manhunt for Tanukichi’s treasured meat. And if it sounds like I’m joking, consider that she’s got the added bonus of athleticism and youth. Being a high school student means her body has yet to betray her due to the passage of time.

      After not thinking about the series for years, I initially would’ve tried to drive her back as though I was shielding myself with a crucifix in the face of a vampire. But looking back, for therapy’s sake, poor Anna needs to f[aanh!]k for public health and safety. Forget protecting her from danger; Tanukichi and admittedly a majority of the whole student body needs protection from her, especially the girls. She nearly surgically removed Ayame’s jugular with her eyes clothes, heaven protect the girl who accidentally bumps into him. That’s a funeral no parent wants to fund.

      As for her pursuits, well, she’s so thirsty, Tanukichi’s bodily fluids are her new favorite drink. She’s so horny, Aphrodite wants her to calm down. She has a built-in Tanukichi seeker that zeroes in on him from anywhere in the world. Cursed to conflate love with lust, she could use a talk about consent, perhaps hidden behind a video about tea. She’s a highlight in the series and a great example of why policing morality is bad. I’m not sure if Ayame’s method of speaking in lewd is a better alternative, but if we’re using measuring sticks, Ayame’s much tamer and she won’t stop ’til everyone’s vocabulary is unfiltered… or at least adjusted to reflect how people would actually talk if not societally enforced to walk on eggshells. I don’t like to use this, but we’ll have to consult Saki Kasukabe.

      Maybe it’s the way I was raised or what I’ve been led to believe, but even talking about intimate things in mixed company is too much for me. Maybe it’ll change?

      Acht:

      Asuka Langley Soryu (Neon Genesis Evangelion) 1995-96

      The tsundere to the stars, the one who kicks Shinji because she believes every man should be manly (when he’s in a “born to malewife, forced to Shonen MC” situation), this hafu representation of two of the Axis powers is broken psychologically.

      Credit: Khyleri

      r/EvangelionMemes is too strong sometimes.

      Asuka Langley Soryu started out as the newest member of the team, and she’s sassy, brash, determined to be the best like no one ever was, and probably (read: definitely) wants to be dominated. I wouldn’t harp like an angel, but the more she bullies Shinji, the more I get the feeling that she wants him to slap her. Toxic? Kinky? Attention-seeking? Well, I say it’s a mix of all three. The Evangelion-themed forums have been debating that for about 30 years (yes, the 1990s are now 30 years ago people) and I’ll leave it to you to decide what’s right because either Hideaki Anno is really tight-lipped or no one is taking him seriously despite creating the f[explosion]king franchise in the first place, goddammit.

      Whatever the case, Asuka’s cuter when she’s trying to impress Shinji. There aren’t a lot of moments of that and I really wish there were. If they were better at communication, then maybe the AsuShin crowd would get their vindication. Stick it to all the other shippers in the process. Then again, the series’ setting doesn’t allow for such a thing. The situation is so dire, we need kids to pilot mechas and destroy angels like this.

      Biblically accurate angels.

      The saddest part about Eva is that the average person didn’t understand that it was an anti-war series. I’m not into mecha and I can see that.

      Now the best for last. The darling heiress to the House of Gremory, represented by the Chess king piece, she begins with a harem and then joins one herself, sweet as candy, kindest devil in all of hell, ladies and gentlemen give it up for Rias Gremory!!!

      She walked past him, enswathed by her vermilion hair. She glanced at him on the ground and returned a smile and a wink, then continued on towards the school building. The crimson-haired beauty with the teal eyes was known as Rias Gremory. The most beautiful girl in the school, with the most attractive personality. She’s kind and heartwarming, welcoming any newcomers to the Occult Research Club with open arms, even the pervert who was caught ogling her earlier: Issei Hyodo.

      Not my best writing, but I think it gets my point across: Rias Gremory is a good woman and an ideal partner. Being the face of a series that uses tits the same way Mario uses mushrooms, her moments of “Issei’s so cute/undress me, you son of a-” are normally saved for downtime. But it still makes an important part of the plot at ridiculous times. I’ll never forget when in the anime, Issei was made the star of a children’s program because the entire gimmick was touching boobs gave him a power-up. Let him cop a feel and all of a sudden he’s Popeye.

      Rias isn’t just a pretty face and nice body. She’s kind, she’s caring, she’s considerate, and she’s cute when she gets jealous that the other girls have an interest in Issei. She’s also mature enough to negotiate with the other girls in this matter. And the most logical conclusion is to share him with Asia. Even the queen has her moments, and that’s why Rias is my Number 1.

      As for the tenth who couldn’t fit into this 3×3, if you’ve exhausted your time trying to narrow it down, you may now rest. It’s Balalaika from Black Lagoon.

      I’m gonna say it. Balalaika is much better than Revy.

      So that’s my 3×3 as of the end of 2024, maybe I’ll update it for 2025, there’s more anime coming out next year, so the well’s never dry.

      Hashire Sori Yo…

      TiberiusLeave a comment

      Kaze no you ni/Tsukimi hara wo/Padoru Padoru!

      This would’ve come out on Friday, but I had to pack my two bookbags for the holidays. Thought I was gonna look a gift of two weeks* of holiday leave in the mouth? (Actually, 11 days, but I also have a 4-day pass.)

      Veteran weebs know what the image above means. ‘Tis the season to be jolly, and everything else Christmas-y. The holidays are a lot of things: great, awful, a mixed bag, an empty bag, and a bunch of other stuff. While this post is gonna be a happy holidays to all, it’s also gonna be a setup for a New Year’s reflection of this blog as well as a look back at the content I’ve written for this year and the content that was released, continued, suspended, or discontinued. Hitting the ground in 2025 with memories and goals. Knowing me, I may entertain theories with plausibility or significant evidence, but for most things I tend to stick with the facts. You’ll almost never hear or see me make a genuine guarantee unless it’s in my notes or I have evidence and research.

      Now I do have plans in my notes to review my content for 2024, but that’s a January thing, and seeing as it’s a day before I return to duty, it’ll either be delayed or published ahead of schedule. Preferably the latter so I can focus on packing up, and New Year’s Eve or Day would be perfect ideally. For a look into the future though, of all the animanga I’ve viewed or games I’ve played, a fair few favorites stand out that have wide fanfare, but I’ve either admired out of respect for the reputation or not directly engaged in myself. Others I plan on writing about after a thorough amount of time. For example, I have a decent amount of time on my emulator with the original Yakuza game, though most fans would implore newcomers to try the Kiwami updates instead.

      Still, a plus for Yakuza/Ryu ga Gotoku is that it’s generally easy to get into and the number of games released since 2005 gives newcomers a backlog to play catch-ups should they choose. And I do choose that method, real life responsibilities and desires would be damned, but being a responsible adult comes first.

      On the opposite end of the spectrum are series I’ve encountered through osmosis. Memes, lore dumps, wikis, explorations; individual fans have tried to explain and recommend their own series, but from the outside looking in, I feel about it the same I feel about the Dune series, best explained with this meme.

      Credit: u/netotz, r/dunememes

      The series’ in question that I’m referring to are Senran Kagura, Fate, and Idolmaster. Each of these has a large following, both foreign and domestic, but my previous attempts to jump into the deeper lore and find a starting point has been met with mixed results. From easiest to hardest to understand, it’s SK, Idolmaster, and Fate. And I’ll start with SK.

      The series’ Wikipedia page describes it as a multimedia franchise spearheaded by none other than Kenichiro Takaki, launched in Japan in 2011 with developers Tamsoft and Marvelous. The first game in the series released domestically is translated with the subtitle “Portrait of Girls” and was ported in 2013 with the subtitle Burst. So that’s simple, boot up an emulator or track down a still working 3DS or similar handheld and get some gameplay in, right? Wrong…

      Opening up a can of worms called backwards compatibility and legalese, there’s a myriad of reasons why that’s not the most feasible way to do it for most. Of course, any potato computer can run a 3DS emulator–I did it myself to play Kirby: Planet Robobot and Triple Deluxe for old times’ sake–but the difference between eastern and western developers shows in the pudding. Eastern game devs will gladly re-release and remake old games for new hardware, such as the aforementioned Kiwami remakes of the old Yakuza PS2 games, whereas western devs can’t or won’t re-release remakes. Unless it’s Naughty Dog patting themselves too hard on the back with The Last of Us.

      Narcissism is calling a PS4 port a remaster, when it was only a one-year release difference.

      What I’ve noticed with eastern and specifically Japanese creators is that they’re accommodating enough to make their products available to all, though from what I’ve seen it can get hectic sometimes. If done poorly, a series can have numerous remakes or remasters or be disappeared and reintroduced, such was the case with JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Domestically, there weren’t many problems with manga releases, but western distributors either got a bad hand or dealt a bad hand with all the bravado and overconfidence that killed Macbeth. Long ago and today, it was considered sinful by the fandom to skip parts and lo and behold Viz Media was the one to ruin it in the mid-1990s. The approach was sound, but the execution necessitated the cancellation and re-release of a western release. To play devil’s advocate, Araki’s playlist disguised as a manga makes things difficult for copyright reasons, but it’s a miracle it was able to work so well, even if it took a quarter century to reach this goal.

      25 years, people, 25 years. That’s how long it took for the first volume of Phantom Blood to get a successful anime adaptation. And the series had been through OVAs and a lost movie. If it was released contemporarily, we’d be halfway through a JoJolion adaptation with rumors of a JoJoLands adaptation getting a greenlight for Q3 2026.

      For Senran Kagura, the source of confusion can come from the names they have, especially overseas. This itself isn’t a new concept, going back decades with international releases of Japanese anything, games notably; sorta like how Earthbound outside of Japan is known as Mother (which is its own wormhole of naming and releases). Couple SK with a limited anime adaptation in 2018, an OVA, and several spinoff games and it can seem like a lot to catch up to. I’m only one mission into Shinovi Versus thus far and I have an extended topic discussion lined up for February. This time, I’m going to try my best to get through Shinovi Versus and at least start another game in the series. So, does SK have a tricky starting point? Yes, but personally I found it easier than the next one I’ve been trying to find a starting point for: Idolmaster.

      What makes this one trickier is that it didn’t start off with a console release, but with an arcade release in 2005, later ported in 2007 to the Xbox 360 in Japan. Clearly, it was successful to get a franchise of its own, but from what I’ve heard, Xbox and Microsoft don’t enjoy wide popularity in the Land of the Rising Sun. Sony and Panasonic have a wider reach on their native soil, but this series’ Wikipedia claims Xbox Live had better hardware. Who else but a computer company to push the limits, right?

      So much for Sony, I suppose? The Wikipedia also suggests that that was just a test with subsequent releases getting PlayStation or mobile releases. Though over the course of 11 years, there’s been many releases. Again, spinoffs are no issue, but the volume of them in games like these makes finding the origin point tougher than it needs to be, especially when they’re neither conventionally named nor released in the right order for an international audience. Circling back to the Earthbound series, even if it’s true that the fanbase isn’t big enough to warrant a wide release, the small headcount was dedicated enough to translate the series themselves.

      But the blame for that can’t always fall on the devs; copyright law is no joke no matter what part of the world you’re in. It’s part of the reason JoJo’s was so hard to introduce to the west. Let’s award the Benefit of Doubt in general cases and say that if it wasn’t for the corps of copyright and lawsuits, more players would play more games, no matter how obscure they are to the general populace. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s a monolith of a series that has one hell of a reputation. Starting as a visual novel, getting two separate anime adaptations (the latter made to correct the former’s mistakes), and spawning a franchise with more twists and turns than M. Night Shyamalan and Christopher Nolan could think of. Pretzels look at the timeline and think, “Holy knots, guy! The f[crunch]k am I lookin’ at?!” Of course, I’m talking about the Fate franchise.

      The emperor of long and convoluted timelines, and the source of upwards of 35 to 40% of all anime-based memes, it started with a visual novel in 2004 and hasn’t stopped running. Even if you messed up the train tracks ahead, the Fate Express continues on through the power of fandom and fanservice. This passage from the associated Wikipedia page says as much:

      I’ve wanted to get into Fate for a few years now, but its reputation has held me back from taking the plunge. Also being a seasoned weeb myself, I know how hideous fandoms can get (see the My Hero Academia fanbase for more details, and cleanse yourself afterwards. IYKYK). Thankfully, there’s not much in the way of ugliness for the Fate series, but to quote a Welsh monke, “if Dragon Ball fans are the ghetto, Fate fans are the crack dealers.” Some of the more vocally dedicated types will stop at damn near nothing until every newcomer lives and dies by Fate and has immersed themselves in all the VNs, anime, movies, games, and other merch that a franchise this influential can spawn.

      Channel: Trash Taste Highlights

      With just this video, I don’t really need to elaborate further. Someone will tell me that Fate is easier to get into than I fear, and I guess I can take their word on that being blinder than Kenshi from Mortal Kombat or Toph Beifong in this regard, but what would help is if there was someone out there who will meet normies and newcomers with some interest at the halfway point instead of leaving us to fight off a pack of wolves with a stick and a book of pressed 4- and 5-leaf clovers. You can expect to see more in-depth opinions about all of these in a post about s[horse neighing] not (yet) reviewed after the New Year.

      Going through my notes whilst finishing this up, I realize some stuff should’ve been up at least a week before I thought they’d be (this post included), but life and work had gotten in the way. The holidays aren’t gonna make that any easier for the last few topics, but I’ve been beating the odds for as long as I can remember and come hell or high water, I’m gonna make this work. Figuring it all out will have to come later.

      Before I part, why don’t I give you a channel recommendation for the Holidays? Behold, Geopold!

      https://www.youtube.com/@Geopoldd/videos

      Not dissimilar from Gattsu, Geopold is another YouTube channel that introduces different parts of the world by way of the power of internet memes. Describing himself as “Birmingham’s Travel Agent,” going off of that alone, he’s confident that that he’s well-traveled enough to give an unbiased opinion about the places he’s– okay, I’m joking, he’s gonna meme these places off the map, and keep mememing them. Now that travel agent thing may be a joke, and if that’s what you’re looking for than stop where you are, have a drink of your choosing (Kirin or Asahi for me) and watch him grossly oversimplify white people… or the state of Florida…

      The next topic (fingers crossed, it’ll be out by Friday or Saturday night) will be an out of season third-person shooter game that only eight people remember.

      If you’re at all curious about the plot, here’s a small hint: the Maryland prison system has been better, all things considered.

      Farewell, Akira Toriyama

      Tiberius1 Comment

      A tribute to a legendary mangaka

      I had been in Army basic training from January ’til the ides of March, so I didn’t learn of Akira Toriyama’s passing until a couple weeks after it had happened. Of course, everybody would’ve gotten their honors and tributes out to the late author by then so my words are coming later than normal, but I’d still like to remember and recount some of his work.

      My introduction to his magnum opus was similar to a lot of kids in the early 2000s. There wasn’t a distinction between anime and regular cartoons back then, so anime fans young and old accepted them with open arms as more cartoons to watch every Saturday morning, further bolstered by programming blocks like 4KidsTV. Seeing a golden legacy ahead of them, many notable programming blocks acquired the rights to air anime in the west. No doubt you or someone you know remembers the ham-fisted attempts at censorship or cultural adjustments because “no westerner has ever heard of rice balls,” or “think of the kids when depicting cigarettes.”

      Obviously, Dragon Ball was no different when it came to censorship. Swearing (however slight) was edited out, scenes were edited or cut, and numerous references from the original Japanese were lost in translation due to how tough it was back then to research a lot of the cultural and historical references considering Dragon Ball’s source material is the Chinese classic Journey to the West. This video can better explain the history of censorship in the Dragon Ball franchise.

      Credit: Nerdstalgic

      Nevertheless, Dragon Ball or more popularly it’s better known successor Dragon Ball Z gained the lion’s share of the fame in the west, albeit with a much wider reception in Latin America. Once Toriyama’s crazy diamond got an English dub, there was nowhere else to go but up.

      My DBZ collection of media was a bit more miniscule compared to my Naruto diet, but it was still fairly noticeable. A few puzzle and DS games, the console fighting games, memes and image macros, fan-made projects featuring some of the characters or the whole cast; an entire production company based in Texas has Toriyama to thank for their success, and they started as a series of parodies.

      In 2008, Team Four Star blessed us with an abridged parodical take on Dragon Ball Z, movies included. Covering the original major sagas, they rewrote and jokingly recontextualized all of DBZ over the course of a decade on YouTube and on their own website.

      Other programming blocks like Toonami, have also owed their success to Toriyama’s star franchise. They began with re-runs back in the summer of 1998, but even so, the English cast never left the project. For decades now, VAs like Sean Schemmel, Christopher Sabat, and Kyle Hebert have gotten their recognition from the English dub and have since lent their talents to other anime ever since. I think it’s safe to say that Dragon Ball has been the connecting element to a lot of media worldwide. You could trip on a Dragon Ball reference and it doesn’t even need to be animated.

      Credit: iiAFX

      But Toriyama was more than just the creator of a manga inspired by Chinese literature. Away from his studio, he worked on other series like Dr. Slump and video games like Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger. His distinctive art style has even been emulated by his fans over the years. Sites that are hubs for artists, classical and digital alike, are guaranteed to have some attempt at drawing at least one character. Even professional artists and other mangaka have redrawn entire scenes or individual characters, either while working with Toriyama or to honor him in his lifetime. Some of these other mangaka grew up watching or reading his work too.

      What makes Toriyama’s passing especially sad is that, like Kentaro Miura before him, he also left behind unfinished work. Miura never finished Berserk after two decades plus and it felt as if even though Goku’s original story had concluded so long ago, there was a lot of fun to have with the Z fighters, especially with all the video games, references, and spin-offs that have come out ever since. The direction of the Dragon Ball Super manga and the newest installment in the franchise, DAIMA, are likely going to be put on hold for a while until an announcement is made.

      Whatever the case, Dragon Ball fans, numerous anime fans, artists and many more have paid their tributes to a prolific and influential artist since his passing. This post is one of them having found out so late and being away from technology during training. And on that note, the block that was made famous for airing and helping perpetuate the Dragon Ball series also made a tribute complete with a marathon in his honor.

      Credit: Toonami

      Farewell, Akira Toriyama [1955-2024]

      Black Lagoon Motherf[sheep noises]r

      TiberiusLeave a comment

      *gunshots*

      This series needs no introduction. It’s famous in the animanga circle for its name, its reputation, its characters, its violence and most of all its f[Boost mobile chirp]ng swear count.

      Channel: Edwin De Paz

      It’s mostly famous by its anime, but it started off as a manga by Rei Hiroe in April 2002 and has run ever since in the Seinen manga magazine Gene-X, for far, far longer than the anime and its OVA ever did. The clip above (which is understandably though unfortunately age-restricted) is one I will see sometimes on YouTube or Reddit because of course. It’s badass, it’s f[monkey screeches]ng awesome, but around the gratuitous gory action is an appropriately mature story.

      I don’t remember when or how I learned of Black Lagoon, but I think it was through some WatchMojo clips about anime gunslingers that introduced me to the series, and it wasn’t until I was in the middle of college that I got around to watching it properly. Before we begin describing the series, no matter your opinion on subs or dubs, I heavily implore you to watch it however you can in English. I mean zero disrespect or offense to the original Japanese VAs, but the writing of the dub makes all the swearing necessary. F[gun cocking]k hits far harder in this anime when accompanied by the sounds of a firing range in comparison.

      The premise is this: in the mid-1990s, Tokyo-based salaryman 25-year-old Rokuro “Rock” Okajima and a department chief are hijacked in the South China Sea by a trio of pirates onboard the Black Lagoon PT boat and calling themselves Lagoon Company. The chief leaves Rock to his fate and he joins up with Lagoon Company’s members consisting of Vietnam vet Dutch, Chinese-American gunslinger Rebecca “Revy” Lee, and South Florida computer programmer, Benny.

      As the fourth face of Lagoon Company, Rock is the glorified diplomat if Dutch is unavailable, especially since there’s an equal or greater amount of time on land than on sea, mostly in the fictional border city of Roanapur, Thailand. This base of theirs is also home to many more organized crime syndicates the world over including but not limited to Colombian cartels, Russian and Sicilian mobs, the Triads, and the Yakuza.

      As for the cast of characters Lagoon Company faces, it’s quite a mixed bag. Just about everyone in the story is motivated by coin, though there’s a fair few who have their own ideals and tenets, not all of them savory or agreeable. Criminals, extremist organizations, drug lords, and general psychopaths are drawn like moths to flame.

      Hiroe’s inspiration for Black Lagoon was inspired in triplicate: news reports about piracy in the South China Sea from the 1990s (hence the setting), the writing drew from a variety of influence like Stephen King and James Ellroy, filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and John Woo, and overall crime noir and Hong Kong action cinema, and other mangaka like Kenichi Sonoda who created Gunsmith Cats (another series I wish to cover one day) and Akihiro Ito who created Geobreeders.

      The characters and setting are all diverse in appearance and in skillset, especially protagonist Rock who skirts by on a lack of battle sense with the powers of negotiation and diplomacy. The setting of Roanapur among other places would make the guy an ill fit since he’s not really seen as bloodthirsty as the others, but then again, the wider cast of characters is exactly that unpredictable, or (spoiler incoming) you wouldn’t really expect a guy like this to be an arsonist, would you?

      Speaking of which, this speaks to the creativity of Hiroe, understanding that there’s no bog-standard look for a criminal. Some dress in suits, others are tattered, and the rest are casually dressed. The same goes for some of the child characters in the show. Conceptually, almost everything is thrown into the kitchen sink when designing a character and putting them in the story.

      As for the chapters themselves, Hiroe has stated in interviews that unlike mangaka who release weekly chapters, he employs a slower approach, often taking as long as a month to release a new chapter, and normally for two reasons: to avoid burnout experienced by mangaka of several popular series still running, and also for mental health reasons. For what its worth, if the research for the series has him glued to news screens and snippets combing over crime on international waters, then it can get daunting keeping it plausible yet exciting. Or if its a series of other things that see him taking multiple hiatuses from Black Lagoon, then whatever happens, the series already gets high praise online and in real life from Japanese and western audiences alike, and not to sign a Death Note of sorts, but even in the worst case scenario, his flagship series will progress toward an ending, even if it isn’t him specifically who will finish it.

      Someone will be there to finish it, with him or for him. And no matter what, Black Lagoon started with a bang and I sure hope that when it eventually ends, it ends with a f[swords clanging]ng bang.

      This week’s recommendation is the YouTube channel RunJDRun.

      https://www.youtube.com/@runJDrun/about

      RunJDRun is the gaming channel of John David “JD” Witherspoon, son of late comedian John Witherspoon. Beginning in June 2009, he hosts Let’s Plays primarily on this channel either by himself or with friends, but also has commentary videos on video games or just in general. JD also has a podcast that he co-hosts with his friend Paul. He normally uploads daily, and like his father, he also has TV appearances and performs stand-up from time to time in the Los Angeles area.

      Boruto: TBV Chapter 3

      TiberiusLeave a comment

      Trickle down exposition

      I haven’t forgotten about this month’s release of the latest chapter. Just spent the last two days studying it and organizing my thoughts so far. Based on what I saw of this chapter, we have more exposition of what we saw in the first two chapters followed by a last-minute twist.

      Of the things introduced and explained in the chapter, Boruto expands on what the Uzuhiko technique. The basics are that it’s tied to the planet’s rotation. If hit with the Jutsu, the afflicted will be hit with a semi-permanent sense of “the spins,” so to speak. It can run for as long as the Jutsu caster (read: Boruto) desires, or until the afflicted (read: Code) dies — and this new teenage Boruto seems to be happy with the latter.

      A technique that causes whoever’s hit by it to nearly infinitely spin in some manner… that sounds familiar…

      Honestly, not the first time the franchise made a JoJo reference.

      So let’s backtrack a bit in regard to the Rasengan. So far we have the following users:

      • Jiraiya
      • Minato Namikaze
      • Konohamaru Sarutobi
      • Naruto Uzumaki
      • Boruto Uzumaki
      • Sasuke Uchiha*
      • Kakashi Hatake

      For Sasuke, he used it as a demonstration before asking Boruto if he could develop it himself. After that, he went through an intense and heated training session from Konohamaru before revealing to Sasuke the results of admittedly three days of training. Before him, Naruto worked on the Jutsu with Jiraiya’s guidance for little over a week, and before him, Minato developed the Jutsu over the course of three years.

      Furthermore, Minato’s direct legacy has accidentally or deliberately put their own spin on the Jutsu, no pun intended. Naruto developed the Rasenshuriken, a powerful Jutsu that was unfortunately shelved as a double-edged sword, at least until the Akatsuki brought Pain to the Leaf Village.

      For Boruto, the first of several variants had come in the form of the Vanishing Rasengan, though he didn’t acknowledge it until he, Sasuke, and the Gokage fought Momoshiki in the other dimension.

      So this Jutsu keeps Code immobile yet conscious to answer a question on Boruto’s mind: the location and status of the Ten Tails. Keep this nugget in mind, it’ll be important toward the end. Just as the interrogation gets moving, Leaf ninja respond to the rogue ninja in their village, among the responding party is the object of Boruto’s vengeance: Kawaki. Speaking of Kawaki, he was in contact with Shikamaru who gives him the go-ahead for a kill order, but the opportunity is missed when Code summons a claw grime to escape through.

      Earlier I wrote that Boruto was asking about whether Code knew the location and status of the Ten Tails. Out of concern for the safety of the world? Well, let me clarify: the tone of voice suggested by the panel was less of a desperation and concern and more of a boast, as if to say that after 2.5 years of training and keeping an eye out for Code, Boruto is finally one step ahead. This is where that twist comes in: before Code could get away, Boruto planted a mechanical toad on Code’s person.

      Credit: Shueisha, Mikio Ikemoto, Masashi Kishimoto

      Kawaki lost his chance to deliver the final blow and will most likely blame Boruto for allowing him to run off, but the last panel reveals why he allowed him to get away. Observe:

      Creator: Shueisha, Mikio Ikemoto, Masashi Kishimoto

      So now we wait for the week of November 20 to learn how this happened to the Ten Tails. Was it Boruto’s doing? Borushiki? Did he learn it from Sasuke? However we get to that answer it will likely be over the course of the next few months. As far as this chapter goes, it steadily creeps back into the trickle down expositional method that seems to be more emblematic of Kishimoto than Kodachi who seemed to employ what I believe was a healthy zigzag pattern of storytelling.

      Clearly, I’d like to see more of this from the succeeding chapters, but it’ll probably be until at least January or February when we get more of these types of answers, and while this is largely fantasy, some of the answers to be revealed may ironically be less fantastical than whatever theories are out there proposing. But we’ll get them soon enough.

      Undead Unluck First Impressions

      TiberiusLeave a comment

      This is a long-time coming.

      If you’ve been following this blog since the beginning, you may recall months ago when I wrote about a manga where select people get random powers of negation, as in what would normally happen to someone else doesn’t happen to the negator themselves. Lots of luck? This person gets none. Mortal? Not gonna happen. Approachable? There’s a literal barrier that keeps you from getting close. This manga is known as Undead Unluck. Created by Yoshifumi Tozuka on January 20, 2020 (the events since, my god), it’s up to 18 volumes as of writing this with 11 currently translated for an international audience. It was recently picked up for an anime adaptation in August 2022, and it’s first episode debuted on October 7, 2023 on Hulu with weekly releases to follow.

      It’s too early to tell whether it’ll run for 12-13 episodes or 24-26 episodes, so this post will be a first impression of the first episode and whenever the first season ends, I’ll review it in bulk with comparisons to the manga. If the title, didn’t give it away, I’m gonna spoil episode 1. So go watch the first episode if you haven’t already, then come back when you’re all caught up.

      Speaking of which, the first episode is already markedly different from the first chapter. Being early 2020, no one could predict the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic then. On a side note: I first read about it in December 2019 and said to myself, “That’s unfortunate, but as long as it stays there [in Wuhan], we have nothing to worry about.” My words were delicious, thanks for asking.

      Anyway, no one knew about the pandemic’s global impact in January, news was still getting out back then, and I bring this up because the manga starts in August 2020, deep into the pandemic with lockdown and travel restrictions in place across the world. This is reflected in the anime as the first scene shows the protagonist Fuuko Izumo set to self-delete from atop a trainline with only Andy, a.k.a. Undead watching from the other side. In the manga, she was surrounded by bystanders who were attempting to bring her back to safety but were stopped when she produced a knife.

      Andy still walks into the blade and touches Fuuko’s face hoping to catch some of her Unluck ability, and like clockwork, the platform collapses beneath him, causing him to fall onto an incoming train. In the manga, they show the disruption of service due to the fall, but the anime skips past that and immediately shows Undead sprouting a new body from his head.

      In the anime, members of an antagonistic agency (revealed later in the manga, I won’t spoil too much) show up to apprehend Undead, but he takes Fuuko with him and flees. In the manga, with the world still being populated, a civilian witness attempts to alert the cops on an out-of-context scenario involving a naked man and a young woman in public (honestly, much of the manga is just “Out of Context” the series; it’s unbelievable).

      In both the manga and the anime, Undead and Fuuko stop at a building rooftop with Undead dangling Fuuko over the edge until she explains her Unluck ability. She explains it and although it was given a single page in the manga, the anime elaborated further on this. It starts with scenes alternating between Fuuko’s last connection with her parents before the accident, and scenes from the romance manga she was reading.

      The anime had introduced them early, but by this point in the manga, after being saved from an accidental slip and fall from the rooftop, the antagonistic agency, represented by men in black suits observes their target making a run for it to an abandoned site. At the site, Fuuko’s jacket snags and she loses her beanie which kept her hair under wraps for years since no hairdresser or stylist could cut it without dropping dead. At the same time, Undead is maintaining as much skin contact with Fuuko while he cuts her hair so that he can test a few hypotheses, mainly is the impact influenced by duration or surface area?

      Well, he doesn’t really get that answer since this agency of black suits tracks him down to his hideout and lops off his head. They put the head in a container and handcuff Fuuko, but the Unluck comes in clutch to save the two as one of the black suits gets zapped. Undead regenerates everything below the neck and removes the card he keeps in his head as a restrictor of sorts to cut them all down to size. Between the manga and the anime, this scene is a mix of gore and action.

      The main guy in a black suit holds Fuuko at sword-point and threatens to behead her too if Undead doesn’t surrender his own head. Neither of them agree to that and when Fuuko breaks free and kisses Undead on the cheek, a meteorite decimates the abandoned hospital. With just a single cell of him left, Undead regenerates full and takes the black suit’s sword as a keepsake. Putting two and two together, he realizes that neither duration nor surface area have anything to do with the Unluck reciprocated and that it may be more connected to feelings of affection. Working with that as the going hypothesis, Undead, now christened “Andy” as a play on words (works better in Japanese) by Fuuko, half-jokingly proposes that they’ll both get their desired death if they have sex… which Fuuko is clearly not keen on as they both just met. And that’s where chapter 1/episode 1 leaves off.

      For my impression, I say that if follows the manga as best as it can with a few nods to real life changes. Then again, for obvious reasons, the COVID pandemic and probably by extension the year 2020 aren’t going to be referenced very heavily in media unless it’ll be for alternate changes to reflect real life or for an alternate timeline of sorts. I liked what they did in just the first episode. This being, David Production, the people who brought us JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, I didn’t worry all that much about how it would look or turn out.

      This studio tends to live up to their reputation and they made Undead Unluck look pretty good for the beginning. I didn’t think they’d expand further on the origin of Fuuko’s Unluck ability with the plane explosion, but from a narrative standpoint, it’s cool to see what we’re expecting going forward. The same goes for the scenes of Fuuko’s romance manga. This is connected to the plot many chapters into the manga, but without spoiling this again, DP seems to be playing the long game of adaptation with the foreshadowing in just this episode and likely more to follow.

      If the anime is 1-cour running for 12 or 13 episodes, then the last episode should air on December 23 or 30 of this year. Alternatively, if it’s 2-cour running for 24 or 26 episodes then it should wrap up its first season by either March 16 or March 30, 2024. Whichever of those comes first, I’ll save a spot in my schedule for that and cover it in a post in the future.

      Call me biased in favor of the series, but I’m glad to see something I cheerlead for in the beginning get one of its dues and I hope I can say the same for The Elusive Samurai when it releases in 2024.

      Tomorrow I’ll be covering a media company that is on a slow and steady decline. Stay tuned. Here’s a hint: