#fun series

[mewitti]

Finished in 2 days because I'm going to an author signing tomorrow. Neon colors GO

[briabooknerd]

Trophy Husbands:

Part -time Husband

Practice Husband

Packaged Husband

Purchased Husband

Convenient marriages:

A negotiated marriage

Married by contract

A wedding Arrangement

Wrong wedding

Christmas bride

Noelle Adams

[richelle-goodrich]

“When you do fall in love with me, I don’t want it to be because I gave in to your demands, but because your heart gave in to its desire to truly be loved.”

― Richelle E. Goodrich, Eena, The Return of a Queen

[hotwaterandmilk]

I started writing this last week, then my tonsillitis floored me so @bunnymajo beat me with her own post on the topic (it's v. good, check it out!!), but I still wanted to share a few of my thoughts about why y'all should consider picking up the Discotek release of the Kaitou Saint Tail anime series on blu-ray.

I'll be honest, Kaitou Saint Tail wasn't my favourite magical girl series growing up in the mid-90s, I found myself far more drawn to Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, and Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne (in that order). However, as I've grown older and re-watched the anime series a couple of times, I've grown to appreciate a lot about it that perhaps I didn't so much when I was young and had a million anime series vying for my attention.

The anime

If you've never seen the Kaitou Saint Tail anime, Haneoka Meimi is regular teenage student by day who rights wrongs by night as the thief Saint Tail. How does she know about what bad things have gone down in the local community? Why her BFF (Mimori Seira) is a nun-in-training, of course! So when Seira hears about things being stolen etc. she relays this information to Meimi so she can set things right.

Complicating the situation is Asuka Daiki, the son of a local detective who notably failed to catch a previous phantom thief (hmm!). Asuka Jr. wants to stop Saint Tail no matter what and luckily the local mayor is cool with giving him the status required to do so. Meimi slowly finds herself torn between how she feels about Asuka Jr. (whom she bickers with but ultimately cares about) and how Asuka Jr. feels about the thief Saint Tail.

So obviously if you like magical girl-type series and you're keen on a cute lil tween romance with some wacky kids' show thieving then you're going to be keen to watch (or read, the manga is adorable) the series no matter what. If you're on the fence, here are a couple of things I found to be stand-outs in Kaitou Saint Tail that you might like about it too.

Saint Tail = Seira & Meimi

Saint Tail the thief is really a team of two people. You've got Seira who gathers all the intel & helps plan, then you've got Meimi who acts as the muscle and executes the scheme. If you removed either of them you wouldn't have the legendary phantom thief everyone talks about in the series. Seira is never magical herself, she goes between God/Meimi/the community to help save "lost lambs" but her role is vital and Meimi's feats as Saint Tail are truly part of a team effort.

I've honestly always loved this about the series, that Seira isn't some friend kept in the dark nor is she another magical thief to team up with, she's got her own unique role to play that utilises her skills just as much as Meimi's role relies on her talents too. Together they are a phantom bigger than any one tween girl could ever be.

Meimi is physically adept

There's room for all types of magical girls in the genre imho and these days we've seen lots of magical girls who can land a solid punch as well as those better suited to intellectual challenges. However, in the mid-90s at a time when Tsukino Usagi and Hanasaki Momoko said it was OK to be clumsy and not great at athletics, Meimi said it was just as OK to be athletic and have excellent fine motor skills.

One thing I didn't note in my above summary of the series is that while Meimi does a whole lot of VISUALLY magical girl things like transform in the anime, she doesn't actually have any supernatural abilities. Meimi is instead adept at stage magic thanks to her father's profession and she plays a lot of tricks to get the job done (while following in her mother's footsteps as well). Meimi can't punch a bad guy through a wall like a Precure, but her strength allows her to frequently save other characters or pull herself out of tricky situations.

Asuka Jr. provides a great contrast

While Asuka Jr. can ride a bike pretty fast he's not that physically strong, which is a contrast to a lot of love interests in the genre who are tough enough to give the heroine enough time to finish the job (Tuxedo Kamen and Limone, for example). Asuka Jr. is more of an intellectual who despite managing to figure out a lot of what's going on with Saint Tail's capers, can never seem to get pin her down (and yeah yeah we know Meimi looks like Saint Tail but this is a cartoon for kids, being in on that while Asuka Jr. goes mad trying to find Saint Tail is part of the overall charm of the thing imho).

I think a decent chunk of what I like about Asuka Jr. as a male lead in Kaitou Saint Tail is that he's not some older, mysterious guy who helps solve problems; Asuka Jr. is a brat who causes most of Meimi's problems and because of his clueless youth he's also quite oblivious to her burgeoning romantic feelings for him. But I love that? They both feel like they're young kids challenging each other on an equal playing field.

While Asuka. Jr doesn't necessarily disagree with Saint Tail's objectives (to right wrongs), he doesn't support her methods (stealing is baaaaaad) and he's following his own moral code which is perhaps a little more conventional than hers. Meimi and Asuka jr. certainly bicker, but they have a lot in common that becomes apparent over time and their differences do indeed prove to be complementary to each other's in the long run.

The stakes are fairly low

Wait, isn't this a bad thing? Shouldn't the stakes be super high in order for us to care about the series? No, I don't think every magical girl series needs to have high stakes to leave an impact or be meaningful. I love that Kaitou Saint Tail isn't about a potentially world-ending event or magical abilities that could change reality as we know it. Heck, there's an episode where the entire goal of Saint Tail's elaborate scheme is to get back a notebook that a classmate gave to her crush accidentally before he can read it.

In that sense, it harkens back to a lot of older majokko shows that, while having some supernatural gifts for the heroine that Meimi doesn't technically have, still chose to focus on the lead solving personal problems or issues in the local community rather than fighting to save the planet.

This isn't to say there are no stakes at all or anything. Meimi's greatest problem lies in her diverging identities and the fact that, as ostensibly a criminal to those not helped by her talents, Saint Tail being unmasked would ruin her life. I know they're not huge stakes compared to galactic evils, but Saint Tail being an outlaw and the way the persona is both a blessing & curse to Meimi certainly is present throughout the series.

Kaitou Saint Tail's stakes might not be as high as those in Nurse Angel Ririka SOS, Tokyo Mew Mew, or any number of Precure seasons, but there's definitely a place for that in the genre and if you'd like something a little more laid back (that's still plenty of fun & with twists and turns a plenty, mind you) then this series might be worth checking out.

The anime doesn't overstay its welcome

The Kaitou Saint Tail anime is a fairly tight production that deftly balances fun filler (remember when we were allowed to have filler eps???) with more emotional story touch points and doesn't feel at all drawn out, which was certainly an issue even for some of my favourite series of the period. While I wouldn't say the anime is perfect or anything, it really doesn't have any majorly weak arcs or huge dips in quality overall.

Kaitou Saint Tail has lovely music (I'm partial to the first OP/ED combo myself), some great 90s animators at work (Abe Junko, Ishino Satoshi, Kadonosono Megumi & Gotou Keiji, Watanabe Nobuhiro, Ochi Kazuhiro, Motohashi Hideyuki, etc.), and a cast of talented seiyuu (Sakurai Tomo as Meimi and Inoue Kikuko as Seira being the stand outs).

While there are some changes to the source material and a lot of the cute, whispy beauty of Tachikawa Megumi's original artwork is lost on screen, the animated version of Kaitou Saint Tail is worth picking up not just to support the release of magical girl titles in the US market, but because it is a solid little series that I know I always appreciate spending some time with.

Anyway those are my rambling thoughts on the series. It won't be for everyone, but if you're interested in magical girl classics then you might want to check out the upcoming US release from Discotek on blu-ray.

[storiadiaries]

Whats the gamers?

It’s a fun set of movies and people who play DnD. The first of was made by a group of friends, it got so much attention that Wizards of the Coast (the makers of DnD) contacted them and made a few more movies based off of it. The main character’s actor of the second film was in the original and others from the first movie make guest appearances too! I made a playlist of the movies for you! Here is the link!

[moonraccoon-exe]

Gladio’s Pick-Up Lines

I share with you a list of 69 times Gladiolus Amicitia tried to flirt with Ignis Scientia plus a poem he came up with just to earn that Yes from the man.

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Fell For You)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Good At Driving)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (Hold Something/A Walk)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (Why Ignis Wears Gloves)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Like Cindy’s Boobs)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Your Place Or Mine)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Top of Ravatogh and Bottom of Cauthess)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (Your Fever)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (Start Eating My Vegetables)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Troubles Focusing In Battle I - Swinging My Sword)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Troubles Focusing In Battle II - Thinking Straight)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Hammerhead)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (We Don’t Need The Stove)  

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (Somebody Stole Something Mine)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (Down On A Knee) 

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (Let Me Hold It For You) 

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Wish I Was the Road)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Something Spicy And Hot)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Are You An Astral)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (You Must Be a God)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Prompto’s Camera)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Troubles Focusing III - Blood Of My Brian)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Something On Your Butt)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Priorities)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (Museum Masterpiece)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Unusually Hot In Here)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (Where’s Prompto and Noctis?)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Eyes That Summon Astrals)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Tickets To Hell/Waking Me Up At This Hour)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (Wish I Was That Ebony)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Running In My Mind)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Are You Eating That?)

Gladio’s pick-up line.  (If You Were an Animal I)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (Not Sleeping On Your Tummy/I Know How To Make it Quietly)  

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Under the Rain)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Something Missing/Can’t Sleep Without It)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Not Too Fond of Bread)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (Busy On Saturday)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Where Is My Chocobo?)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (If I Were An Animal II)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (I Make Things Disappear)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (The Word of the Day)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Where Is My Chair?)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (A Penis And a Sword)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Troubles Focusing In Battle IV - Eyebrows )

Gladio’s pick-up line/First Attempt of a Pick-up Poem. (Roses Are Red)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (They Call Me Glad) 

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Not A Good Idea Having Him Here/Pirates) 

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Turn Into a Dog)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Are You His Bodyguard?)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Always Sneezing)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (You’ve Become a Wonderful Cook)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (Gladio’s Reading Motivation)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Sunflowers On A Piano)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (With All My Muscles)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Stop Coming Up With New Recipes)

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (With My Whole Hand)  

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (I’ll Kill Everything You Love)  

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Life Is a Recipe) 

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Gladio Talks Behind Your Back) 

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Who Needs The Sun?)  

Gladio’s pick-up line. (New Pants)  

Gladio’s pick-up line. (Choose Between World Peace And Me) 

Gladio’s pick-up line.*  (Not My Imagination)

Gladio’s pick-up line.  (A Puzzling Man)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (If I Had a Gil...)

Gladio’s pick-up line. (A Shame I’m Diabetic) 

Gladio’s pick-up line.* (Your Sweet Stare) 

Gladio’s pick-up line. (69) 

Gladio’s pick-up poem.* (A Poem For Ignis)

The * marked ones are some of my personal favorites (either as themselves or for the tags).

Enjoy some Gladnis comedy/romance! :)

[briabooknerd]

An under -one -roof romance :

Sleep over

Head over Heels

Do over

Hott Springs eternal :

Hott Take

Some like it Hott

Running Hott

Hot shot

Serena Bell