Thee

~Animes and books ~Rants, talks, and theories

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Identity Talk with Tachihara and Fukuchi

One dynamic I think would have been so interesting to see more of is that of Fukuchi and Tachihara. Fukuchi has an alias as “The Man of A Hundred Faces”, which meant he had to play many roles and probably got conflicted and lost more than once. (I have not done an analysis on him in case you couldn’t tell.) Tachihara had that entire identity crisis over whether he’s a Hunting Dog or Port Mafia member. It would have been nice if we saw him talk to Tachihara about having multiple identities and to not get lost in them. It could have been great foreshadowing too if it was done before Kamui’s reveal.

[coldinternetllama]

Agott's talent

Vague spoilers up until Silver Eve (around chapter 62)

I've been thinking about how Agott was kicked out of her family for supposedly being too mediocre when it comes to magic, at least in comparison to her mother, and how a common interpretation is that she is indeed not talented, but a hard worker. While I do agree that this is a valid take, especially considering how Shirahama loves to flip common tropes around, I don't think this is entirely true. Agott appears to have talent when it comes to purely decorative magic, as we can see during the Silver Eve arc, and it's even implied when Coco is defending her while they are at the Great Hall (making plushies dance is apparently quite complicated). It just so happens that this is the kind of magic that is considered useless, because it is rather impractical. I can't help but wonder if this is meant to parallel how artists in real life are often told that what they do isn't a "real job". And what is a child supposed to do when she is told her talents are worthless? Of course, she would start hiding her favorite magic and try and learn all of the "useful" spells. Yet she will never quite reach the expected brilliance, instead she will only follow the path of other people's expectations. Not because she wants to, but because this is how it is supposed to be. I believe this is one of the reasons why she struggles to be as creative and daring as Coco in stressful situations. After all, Agott's own ideas were never considered good enough for the Arklaum family, so why even bother experimenting? No wonder she sometimes gets envious of Coco's seemingly easygoing nature and unconventional, but successful ideas when it comes to magic.

Speaking of Coco, I think it's poetic how it was also one such decorative and impractical spell (Olruggio's glowing stones) that made her love magic, and it was later Agott's light magic that reignited that same love. And it took Coco feeling down for Agott to actually want to use her own spells for the sake of someone else. Considering how that interaction seemed to make both of them more confident, I believe we'll be seeing more of Agott's actual talent in the future, just like Coco has been getting better and better at the technical aspect of casting.

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A Helping Hand? (BSD)

I saw this post recently that said how there was no one after Oda that reached out a hand for Dazai. That makes me wonder whether Dazai chooses not to let someone help him, in fear that this person will die or abandon him, or if no one is actually reaching out to him? For the second point, you could argue that Atsushi is. Not in the same way as Oda, but in a way that reminds Dazai that his past is not who defines him, but rather his present actions, by thanking him (which I think only happened in Wan, which I know isn't canon) and seeing him as a virtuous person. It could also be a mix of both, where he's not letting people worry enough about him to feel the need to reach out in fear of something bad happening to them.

(Idk what to title this.)

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A Flawed Method For Survival (WHA)

Yes, the Knights Moralis's methods are flawed, but it's also what's keeping them alive. Imagine that you're a police officer armed with only a taser and handcuffs tasked to stop a criminal known to have every single weapon ever created at their disposal. Once the criminal knows you're on their tail, they're not going to let you capture them, so they're going to throw whatever it is they have at you, whether it's a pocket knife or a nuke (idk if that's possible, but this is a hypothetical situation). So your best chance of survival is to capture first and ask questions later.

Is it an ideal method? No, because the chances of stumbling upon a Brimmed Cap are very low, and lives get ruined. But when you think about the stakes, it is understandable why they would go through such lengths, even for children, who could have been groomed by a Brimmed Cap.

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Losing Sight Of Oneself (KNY)

One of my favourite things about Kokushibo’s story is the message “don’t lose sight of yourself”. Kokushibo was so blinded by jealousy that he became a demon in hopes of surpassing Yoriichi, and in doing so, he started to lose his sense of self. He was no longer a noble samurai protecting the weak. He had become a monster with the sole purpose of being better than someone else. In the moments before his death, we see him becoming monstrous and hideous just to be someone strong, and that is when he realises he has lost his way. However, in reality, he had lost his way the moment he decided to become a demon.

This can be a really good message. It's not wrong to have goals, but the moment those goals start to reveal the worst sides of yourself is when they're bad. But it's only when you're too far gone in the wrong direction that you realise how wrong you've been.

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Theory On Tartah When We See Him Next

I wonder if the next time we see Tartah, he'll no longer have the Silverwash Syndrome due to him now affiliating with the Brimmed Caps. I'm sure there's a spell or it, and even if there isn't, I'm sure they'll create one. And with his knowledge of ink and how to make ink more suited for certain situations, I'm sure he'll be used well.

Also, I'm now starting to realise that if there was a spell to see the world in colour, couldn't they have made a contraption like Qifrey's glasses? Qifrey really did not lie when he said witches aren't accommodating to exceptions.

[theenbyroiderer]

Can I talk about aphobia for a bit? Because I wanna. Because it's not included in IDAHOBIT, and frankly I think it needs to be talked about more.

Aphobia exists as an insidious but ignored undercurrent. It often takes less visible forms than homo-, bi- and transphobia. Less overt. You seldom hear about people beaten up in the street because they are aro or ace. Instead the violence tends to happen behind locked doors and come from intimate partners.

You don't hear much about aro and ace people at all to be honest. Because of erasure. When someone does open up about being asexual, the reactions are usually full of ridicule and invalidation. But the majority of people don't even know what asexual or aromantic means. Sex ed classes don't mention the possibility of people being ace or aro. Aspec people grow up thinking that something is wrong with them because they have never heard that you can lack attraction.

And if they seek out a professional and ask if something is wrong with them, they are likely to be told that there is. Because even medical professionals don't know what asexuality and aromanticism are about and often see a lack of attraction as a symptom. An aspec person is also more likely than most to fall victim to conversion therapy.

The worst thing isn't pathologization/medicalization though. Not in my opinion at least. I think the worst is when ace and aro people are viewed as less human. Romantic love and sexual attraction are often seen as universal human experiences. Aspec people are compared to robots, aliens, animals... And that's a very slippery slope. That's the sort of thinking that leads people to ascribe less value to an aro or ace person's life. The sort of thinking that might make an aspec person ascribe less value to their own life.

And then, when we turn to other marginalized sexualities, hoping for understanding and solidarity, we all too often hear that we are not welcome, that we face no real oppression or discrimination.

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Another Toxic/Abusive Ship That I Just Don't Get

I should have expected this, but I did not realise that people shipped Beldaruit and Deanreldy (the king). Any way I look at them, I get really uncomfortable, especially with the recent stuff, because that is a doctor abusing his power and keeping his patient weak and powerless. Beldaruit literally cannot move without being dependent on someone else in that castle, and the king is well aware of this. If this were a straight dynamic, with the patient being a woman, no one would ship this because of how harmful it is. There's a double standard where people won't ship certain ships because it's gay, but there's also a double standard where people will ship certain ships because it only "works" if it's gay. You're tired of seeing the woman in the weak position, and so am I, but making it an mlm ship does not make it better. It is still very problematic. There are toxic shipping dynamics, and there are abusive shipping dynamics, and this one is really abusive. Abuse shouldn't be romanticised.

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When Death is Erased and How Children Fail to See the Consequences (Witch Hat Atelier)

When we learned that Custas had been drawing counterclock spells on the dead, I didn't think much of it. Obviously, he's trying to save them in the only way he knew how, and from a child's perspective, you don't really see the negative side effects of it. Recently, I've been reading some stuff where there is an absence of death, and the main conclusions were 1) you can build an undead army, and 2) it causes more suffering. Point 2 was kind of already shown in Witch Hat Atelier, as Dagda would be confused every time he woke back up from the dead. This confusion could lead to a lot of psychological damage as the person would wake up in a completely different area and would never age physically or mentally, despite knowing that time is passing.

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Gyokko: Fraud or Not?

Gyokko is what you’d call a plot device. His role was to develop Muichiro’s character and show the importance of the demon slayer mark. His role was played out perfectly, but because of that, he seems incredibly weak. So, I’m going to break down his abilities and see if he deserves the Upper Moon 5 position.

To start, his base abilities include poison needles, the water vase, teleporting between pots and weird walking fish. Ignoring the walking fish because I don’t remember what they did, hundred, if not thousands of poison needles are being shot at a person, and even if their dose is lower than Gyutaro’s blood sickles, it would not be fun being stabbed by one. The water vase, which, mind you, had Muichiro, is pretty indestructible. The pots just make it annoying to kill him, like Nakime’s BDA.

Next is his true form. His main ability is that his fists turns what he touches into little fish. This might not look deadly, but imagine getting punched in the head. I did think he had Muichiro, but it turned out only his shirt got fished. Disappointing, but the plot demands him in the Infinity Castle. Other things include heightened speed and strength, and a body covered in scales as hard as diamonds. (You know what's stupid? He didn't think to add these scales to his neck. He could have made chain mail with them.)

So, should he be Upper Moon 5? The thing is, Gyokko vs Muichiro was never going to be a drawn-out fight. We were never going to get an epic, flashy battle. We were also never going to see him at full power because he was not taking that fight seriously. Similar to how Douma was not serious in either of his fights, Gyokko’s overconfidence and arrogance made it so he did not take Muichiro seriously. If he actually tried and made the battle draw out, we’d see more from him. However, getting defeated by a 14-year-old is never a good look.

And if we take the argument that marked Muichiro would not be able to kill Gyutaro alone (meaning that he should be Upper 5) because of the double beheading, doesn’t that also mean Hantengu should be Upper Moon 3 since he is infinitely harder to kill than Akaza? (Akaza might be skilled, but Hantengu is tiny and has clones, each with their own BDA. There are more chances for a Hashira who is alone and marked to kill Akaza than Hantengu.) Shouldn’t Nakime be Upper Moon 2, since when you’re fighting her, you’d be in her domain, where she has control over everything? It was shown it was impossible to kill her. As Obanai stated with Nakime, “her blood demon art isn't deadly, but it is annoying.” (Chapter 164) Nakime isn't shown to be a physically strong demon unlike Kaigaku, who is Upper Moon 6, and is by far physically stronger than Nakime. Yet she is two ranks higher due to her BDA. Because of this we can infer that the Upper Moon rankings are based on strength (hence Akaza being Upper 3 and Kaigaku being Upper 6) and blood demon art (hence Nakime and Hantengu being Upper 4), and not necessarily based on how hard they are to kill. Otherwise, Gyutaro, Daki and Hantengu should be way higher.

Gyokko has a more deadly BDA, and that's why he is above Gyutaro, because the water vase is by far more dangerous than the blood sickles and the obi sashes. Had Kotetsu not been there, Muichiro would have suffocated. The pots make it very annoying to behead him. Gyokko’s true form with his Midas touch is also more threatening than Gyutaro and Daki because with Gyutaro and Daki, I can block and defend, but if Gyokko touches my sword and turns it into fish, I am screwed.

To conclude, even if Gyokko is not physically more powerful than Gyutaro and Daki combined, his blood demon art makes up for it. From how deadly it can get to the sheer annoyance of trying to catch him, he deserves his spot at Upper Moon 5.

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Why “It’s Called Solo Levelling Not Team Levelling” Does Not Work As Effectively As You Think It Does

Replying to comments of “other characters in Solo Levelling need character development” with, “it’s called SOLO Levelling not TEAM Levelling” shows a lack of understanding on what the person is criticising and implies that you think character development is just characters getting stronger (levelling up). Character development ranges from weak characters getting stronger to leader characters learning to step back and let others take charge. It could be a traumatised character learning to cope and letting people in, or a character learning to accept their flaws. It can also be the change in relationship between different characters: a parent and a child, comrades, lovers, foes, work partners. Any change in a character or their relationship, whether good or bad, is character development.

Back to Solo Levelling. In the context of the story, everyone’s rank is constant, except for Sung Jin-woo’s. He is the only one who can level up. Letting side characters have development does not change the fact that he is the only one levelling up. Named hunters can have development without changing their ranks. They can still have mini character arcs and show growth while the story stays true to the title since Sung Jin-woo is the only one levelling up, changing ranks. This is what these people want. They want to see side character get the chance to change in some way, shape, or form without (not equal to them) changing their ranks.

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How Long Would Muichiro Survive Against Kokushibo

I’ve been seeing a lot of how long the Hashiras would survive in a 1v1 against these Upper Moons, and there’s just one thing I heavily disagree on which is Muichiro against Kokushibo. I don’t believe that under any circumstance would Kokushibo not be able to identify Muichiro as his descendent, which means he will offer to make him a demon. Even though Muichiro would get blitzed (that I agree on), he would still survive until the blood transfusion where he either dies or survives. And if he does become a demon, it technically means that he survived his 1v1 against Kokushibo. So, Muichiro either has a few seconds to infinity to survive against Kokushibo.

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First Thoughts On WHA Anime

I really like the storybook art at the beginning and ending of the episodes. It gives off a very fairytale vibe, and it also helps to show how some of the panels looked in the manga. I was wondering how they were going to capture Shirahama’s art, and the animators did it in such a wonderful way, it ties well with the story.

Qifrey saving Coco was done really nicely, so I’m sure the other action scenes will have as good of animation as that. The magic is animated so whimsically, which I guess from Coco’s eyes it is. The intro is by far one of my favourite parts just because of the Easter eggs. There’s Coco between the Brimmed and Pointed Caps. There’s Qifrey framed between trees (iykyk).

I don’t want to be a hater, but the dub will have to grow on me. The main reason is that the girls just sound way too old, especially Agott. I don’t even think it’s the fact that she sounds old but rather mature. Qifrey, Iguin, and Coco were done well though. Tetia and Richeh’s voices in the sub are exactly how I imagined them to sound.

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Rant Post

You know what I don’t like when I say I hate a character. It’s when they reply with “you don’t understand their character”. Is this your way of justifying the unfathomable truth that this beloved character of yours can get hate? The thing is, I don’t even think half the people who are enamoured by this specific character bother to understand his complexity. When I watched it, I understood the way he acted thanks to his backstory, however, that does not mean I started to like him. He was very annoying in s1 and just because x, y, z happened does not mean I need to condone him for it. Even if this behaviour was normal back in the day, I can still find it annoying and hate him for it. I’m also not a big fan of his character design and I will leave it at that.

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WHA OP

THE SCALE. THE DECISION BETWEEN THE POINTED CAPS AND THE BRIMMED CAPS. This one shot in the OP explains the conflict so perfectly. I wonder if, as the seasons progress, Coco will be more centred or turned more to the Brimmed Caps side, especially with everything that happened in the recent arc.

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Luke’s Character: Show vs. Book And Why I Dislike It

I enjoyed some of the changes made to the PJO TV series, like pushing the found family trope on Luke, Annabeth, and Thalia. However, I’m not a big fan with the direction they’re taking Luke’s character. In the books, Luke had this unwavering resolve to carry out his mission (except for when he had to give his body up to Kronos). In the show, we see Kronos mentally torturing him for him to continue the plan. This is because the plot with Thalia and the Golden Fleece was changed to make Luke a more redeemable character.

Obviously the books are in Percy’s POV, so we don’t know what’s going on between Luke and Kronos, but this change makes Luke less impactful. Especially because Luke and Percy are parallel in the books with Luke being screwed over by the gods that he turns to Kronos out of resentment and Percy also getting screwed over by the gods but fighting for them for the people he cares about. (Very bad explanation of the parallel but I assume you can fit the missing pieces together if you’ve been in the fandom for a while.) In the show, Luke isn’t making his decisions with the same hatred and resentment as in the books.

Now I’m not going to try to convince you that this is a good or bad change. Personally I don’t like it because what I liked so much about Luke’s character were the discussions surrounding him, his conclusion and whether he was right or wrong. Yes he was broken and manipulated in the books, but the actions we see him take, to the readers, are his and his alone. Some people sympathise with him while others fully hate him for everything he’s done. Meanwhile the show is really trying to push the narrative “don’t hate him, he’s broken”, instead of letting the watcher decide for themselves whether he should be forgiven through his interactions with the other characters and the environment.

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Ranking The Hashiras Based On Their Contribution In The Infinity Castle Arc

I only decided to do this because I suddenly remembered some minor details. There’s also some points that I haven’t seen mentioned before, or maybe I forgot.

9. Rengoku: He’s dead.

8. Tengen: He was just guarding Nezuko and wasn’t actively fighting the demons.

7. Muichiro: Did manage to summon a red blade that weakened Kokushibo. He also helped Genya eat pieces of Kokushibo, but other than that, he didn’t do much in the fight.

6. Mitsuri: Managed to land some good hits on Muzan but got taken out early. We ignore the Nakime fight (it was barely a fight). (Edit: Why I put her above Muichiro is because, while she didn't do much against Muzan, she did help take his attention off weaker slayers, which prevented him from eating them and growing stronger.)

5. Obanai: Managed to land some good hits on Muzan with both normal blade and red blade. Also helped get Tanjiro to safety if I remember correctly, which allowed Tanjiro to heal and perform the Hinokami Kagura. (The only reason I rank him under Sanemi is because Sanemi did contribute in defeating Upper Moon 1 while Obanai and Mitsuri were getting flung around by Nakime. But at the same time, I feel like they could switch.)

4. Sanemi: Good in the Kokushibo fight and the Muzan fight. He did pass out quite a bit though. (Could be switch with Obanai.)

3. Gyomei: Really useful in both the Kokushibo and Muzan fight. He’s an MVP, what else can I say.

2. Giyu: Was great in the Akaza fight and Muzan fight, and was even still conscious and prepared to fight Demon King Tanjiro. He also did warn the people close to Tanjiro to get away from him, which helped lessen the casualty rate.

Shinobu: Pretty much was the reason why Douma died and allowed Inosuke and Kanao to live. Created the drug with Tamayo to weaken Muzan, which is how the surviving members are alive. It was also thanks to her medicine that they were able to bring Tanjiro back to his humanity.