Redemptive Readings for Everything

Yep that's meatspace me in the banner. Category tags for filtering: idols, music, tv, anime, femslash, musicals, film, other, craft (storytelling technique), my stuff (fanworks I make). Also: "gdi do I need a game tag", "huh I don't seem to have a cartoon tag", "a shiny book tag appears"

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Some alternative endings to last week's mashup

Dreams of whoa-ing

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Ave Mujica as summarized by CXG songs

Song are not in CXG chronological order but they are in Ave Mujica season progression order.

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I love how Umiri is like "I quit all of my bands! This proves that I am TRUSTWORTHY" and Soyo is right there, still doing high school wind ensemble with Taki's sister

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Yoooooooo the 2000 Spring perf of Manatsu no Kousen opened with an acapella of the chorus?

THOSE HARMONIES, DAMN!

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Isn't it so nice when the Related Videos can still give you an actually good next step?

(For potential link rot purposes, this is 信也's kit cover of The Peace)

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Things I did not expect to watch today

(For potential link rot purposes, it's シンDrums' kit cover of Manatsu no Kousen)

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People were complaining how Bond themes seem to have stagnated, with the only recent one breaking the mold being Casino Royale’s You Know My Name. I’ve noticed, however, that anime has quite a few openings that would fit the bill, with creative visuals set to catchy songs. The next time the topic of Bond themes comes up, I want to share the anime examples. Please send me suggestions! Mawaru Penguindrum second OP Kaguya-sama Love is War OP Noir OP (Yeah I know, on the nose) Kakegurui OP (OP 2 is close, but generally the Bond theme doesn’t have a singer on screen so much) Mob Psycho 100 first OP The Laughing Salesman (2019) OP Remember, what we’re looking for are very stylized visuals, avoiding any “real” backgrounds in lieu of spinning symbols, pairing sensuality and danger. Cowboy Bebop and Michiko to Hatchin come very close, but not quite. Lupin openings don’t quite hit the mark, either. Honorable mentions goes to the second opening of Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, Imawa no Shinigami, because while its visuals aren’t that Bond-themey, the song is an excellent take on the classic Bond theme. It’s by Hayashibara Megumi, too!

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I previously decided not to put the ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept. OP on this list, since it features too many actual characters, but I’m coming back to it as excellent proof that Bond Themes can successfully use more modern genres of music to convey its themes. Just because Madonna failed at her turn doesn’t mean that every Bond Theme going forward should be pastiche. The connecting tissue on a lot of these, of course, is that the Bond Theme is often just a hop, skip, and step away from film noir. So anime OPs that are noir-ish easily fulfill the need to evoke “martinis, girls and guns, murder on our love affair” per a Bond Theme. This is what we see with the ACCA OP, whose lyrics are a perfect match, as well as having the requisite tantalising gestures by ladies capturing our fascination. (In light of that, might as well link Kakegurui XX OP as well, even though it was similarly discarded from the post above.) Of course, if we’re talking noir, then ODDTAXI has to be mentioned. Now, the OP doesn’t fit the visual tropes of a Bond theme because the types of characters involved don’t fit at all. The ODDTAXI OP is about normal schmucks and their hangups. Their flaws are put front and center, which is utterly against the “rule of cool” escape that a James Bond joint is meant to offer. You will never see a Bond theme where James tries and fails to wipe bird poop off of the windshield. But the shear surreality and variety of art styles in this opening can’t be denied, and could be adapted. A total chill bop of a song, and then very oblique symbolic representations of the plot to come, lensed through the characters, which would then require that the characters all have vivid personalities? Why not aim high? Make James cool again. (One might notice that Kaguya Sama S2 has since come out, with a similar song by the same artist as S1, but its OP doesn’t do Bond-theme style visuals. Song isn’t quite good enough for honorable mentions, either.)

[monstrousgourmandizingcats]

Not an OP, but does the Gankutsuou ED maybe have the right vibes?

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Oh man, that’s like Live and Let Die on steroids and speed, mixed with Doctor Who’s OP. That’s great.

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Ironically, nothing from Spy x Family applies, because both song styles and visual styles are way more advanced and of different tone from any Bond theme, no pun intended.

Now, where is my Borf theme, Spy x Family. Give it to me.

In general, anime's spy shows don't do Bond Theme type OPs anymore. It's just not in the well of artistic influences, and tbqh, are not nearly as interesting to animate in this era of OPs consistently being higher-budget showcase pieces.

Joker Game is a good example, where there are lots of Bond Theme elements, but like the above cases with ACCA and Kakgurui XX, it features too much footage of the actual characters to really be in the spirit.

Lots of anime with action spy/assassin/heist content want to portray that action in the OP itself, so you're more likely to get Bond Theme type content from other genres, where Bond Theme visuals become a metaphor for the non-action premise. They also tend to be shows where the producers don't mind having a less commercial OP, which is why Kaguya-sama's subsequent seasons were far more character-centered.

As always, I welcome people to submit examples I may not know about.

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Day 4: Favorite Recurring/Guest

Let’s put it this way: put “favorite” episode aside (because then I get all caught up in best vs. favorite, impactful vs. enjoyable), one relatively more objective thing I can measure is episodes I’ve rewatched the most.

Starting from the top, the list probably goes something like–

Bad Code Firewall The Fix Contingency

So yeah.

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#guys remember that time surprise samira wiley? #the NYC acting pool man #NEVER TRUST NINA SHARP #oh man can you imagine if blair had played greer? #blair and michael emerson going head to head #blair smirking at leslie odom jr. #blair talking to martine!!! #joan greer welcoming kara back to life #blair going head to head with camryn be still my heart #has someone made a poi people on Law and Order yet #it’s not a secret thought that of the regular numbers #I love andrea gutierrez and sophia campos #I ship it #the lawyer and the diplomat #also #andrea’s episode has the epic LOCF #dominic gets better and better with every rewatch #floooooyyyddd you’re totally still alive john only kneecapped you #lol so that’s three OITNBs at least #MONICA JACOBS man #she is so on a thornhill team #doesn’t ever take logan pierce’s shit #and let’s be honest #simmons was a great character #perfectly played so that we could love to hate him

This tag vomit is so funny since The Americans also pulls from that NYC pool. Cotter Smith and Margo Martindale and Wrenn Schmidt!

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gdi I miss Canada genre

I know I can technically still get some amounts of East Coast Acting Pool via crime/law procedurals I barely know the name of and get second-hand excerpts from the workplace lunch room TV, but IT'S NOT THE SAME.

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Person of Interest - Question

So, POI fans…  My wife and I tried to start watching POI from the very beginning on Netflix several days ago, but it was kind of slow and plodding, and after the first four episodes of season 1, we just couldn’t keep going.  I’ve read a few comments here and there saying it does pick up and get better.  My question:  Is there a recommended later point at which we can start watching, and, if so, what will we need to know in order not to be lost starting there?

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Reblogging for the evening crowd…

[morningmightcomebyaccident]

@arbitrarygreay, any recommendation? For my own part, I found PoI to be pretty straightforwardly procedural, even until the very end, as per network request.

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Starting from ep 4 on, I recommend for S1: 1x6 The Fix 1x7 Witness 1x9 Get Carter 1x10 Number Crunch 1x15 Blue Code 1x17 Baby Blue 1x19 Flesh and Blood 1x22 No Good Deed 1x23 Firewall (I also like 1x11, 1x12, 1x16, 1x18, and 1x20, but they’re much more YMMV) For a minimum of more S1, I’d say 1x6, 1x9, 1x15, 1x19, and 1x23. Absolute worst case skip straight to 1x23, but be sure to come back and rewatch S1 once you get through 2x13.

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@mimeparadox what selection did you end up going with, with your friend? (Given, that this was a “guided” watch, where one of the viewing parties was a PoI fan, so not an audience of all PoI initiates.)

[mimeparadox]

Sure. Note that my priority was less doing POI efficiently and more avoiding the episodes I do not personally care for (if I thought they offered no vital context–otherwise the pilot, “Root Cause”, “Blue Code” and “Matsa Nyaya” would not have made the list) so there’s still quite a bit you could cut, if you’re not feeling the series but are determined to get the highlights.  

1.01: Pilot

1.04: Cura te Ipsum

1.06: The Fix

1.07: Witness

1.09: Get Carter

1.10: Number Crunch

1.11: Super

1.12: Legacy

1.13: Root Cause

1.14: Wolf and Cub

1.15: Blue Code

1.17: Baby Blue

1.18: Identity Crisis

1.19: Flesh and Blood

1.20: Matsya Nyaya

1.22: No Good Deed

1.23: Firewall

ETA: It’s also worth noting that my initial experience with Person of Interest involved watching 3.03 (”Lady Killer”), deciding not to stick with the series until I caught episode 3.21 (”A House Divided”), and then only going back to what I missed after finishing season 4. So going freestyle is definitely possible. 

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#the eternal question of which S1 episodes to skip

I've seen multiple people run into this issue recently where they started watching PoI with no skips and are like 10 eps in and complaining that it's merely above par procedural. This always makes me feel immense hatred for the culture of not skipping or spoiling things (and also, faithful anime adaptations). The best stories only get better with more spoiling! Kill your darlings! Skip to the good parts! Skip to the interesting parts with no context, this is the streaming era bitch we clown in this muthafucka you better take your sensitive ass back to idek, you can always go back and fill it in later! There is no better advertisement for a series than watching the middle out of context off of someone else's airplane seat screen!

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Red dress ✅ Black corset ✅ Ojou-sama poise ✅ Black lace gloves ✅ Frilly skirt ✅ Hair ornament, neck ornament ✅ Black high heeled boots ✅ Theme: pianist ✅✅ Theme: associated with rain✅✅✅

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My write-ups for PoI S5 rewatch have been very very negative, to put it mildly. It’s been pretty illuminating to see how much I forgave S5 for, or wasn’t even bothered by on the first time around. It does bear the question, why am I so harsh on the same content now? One big answer is the ways in which PoI’s content has aged badly in light of events in the real world, but my biggest frustrations with PoI S5 are all about the writing, with the dated content only a cherry on top. My reblog of my own take of PoI Appreciation Week Day 1 answers that question: when I watched PoI S5 for the first time, I was submerged in fandom, and my glee with canon was contrasted against the fandom content, especially fanfiction. Right now, I do not spend time consuming PoI fandom content very much. So instead, PoI canon has to compete not only with itself, but with the best other canons TV has to offer.

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#did PoI live up to the promise of the AI War? No. did any PoI fanfic offer a more interesting take? Also no.

[nemu-kusa]

uminyamu

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For potential link rot purposes, this is RGU cut to the Mean Girls trailer by Lyrical Beauty Productions

Is your fandom even real if you don't have one of these yet?

[himemeiya]

Revolutionary Girl Utena but as vines. You are welcome. [yt link]

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The AU writes itself

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MYVE GOJICA?

that will be the title of the new season, no?

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How about those Myve Gojica girlies