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Exia posted:118 is out https://mangaplus.shueisha.co.jp/viewer/1016665 is this not the first time aqua's met mystery girl? the way he talks to her feels like he's met her before but i don't remember that happening.
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May 18, 2023 00:32
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just dropping in to make a post, won't be reading any more of the thread until I'm caught up to avoid spoilers(just typing the first part of a character's name to find their last name spoiled me on future stuff in the search bar before I even hit enter lol), but I started reading this after hearing a lot of good things about it. I've not read Kaguya-sama yet, it's on the list to get to, but having heard nothing but good things about that I figured I'd hop into this one. I'm quite enjoying it, love the characters(Aqua's probably my favorite, I like Akane, don't really like Kana, she's entertaining but has a pretty ugly attitude, Ruby feels like while she shows up a ton she barely gets to be the center of attention outside of a couple scenes), love the interactions, the views behind the curtain of various industries, that sort of thing. I'm around chapter 72 or so right now. Not much to say negatively about it, the way it portrays how each character handles their roles either in their work or in the industry is great. Wasn't sure about the initial twist, and it certainly did bum me out that there wouldn't be an exploration of that particular character's further growth and life, but Aqua and Ruby are great. I dunno if I'd mark this as the best anime/manga ever like I've seen from a few folks, but it's certainly very good. if I had to pick one thing so far that's bugged me, I think it's from one of the recent chapters I've read, where it's shown that Aqua/Ruby's father isn't dead. like, the series has been relatively realistic in its portrayal of a lot of things, or at least has been pretty brutally grounded when not doing things for comedic effect, but I can't help but feel like there being this conniving mastermind faking his death to super-double-triple hide his tracks kinda feels like it's from the wrong manga. I genuinely thought it was a fantastic decision to have Aqua spend all this time, effort, and money to hunt down his father for revenge, only to find he'd died ages ago in another incident. I felt like that was a great swerve in order to totally derail Aqua's path in life and provide an opportunity to follow his further journey as he tries to come to grips with never being able to have his revenge, just never getting to have an answer, and working through that and trying to have a life focused on something other than revenge. that would've been great. but I guess dad's still around and completely aware of his kids and being a maniacal faceless(as far as I've seen) monster person, so I guess it's going more Anime with that route than I'd like. I'm sure it's going to be handled adequately enough, since the series is still extremely highly rated many chapters past where I am, but I would have loved to see the path it took the other way.
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May 18, 2023 00:33
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Inflammatory posted:is this not the first time aqua's met mystery girl? the way he talks to her feels like he's met her before but i don't remember that happening. I believe it’s the first time he’s interacted with her on panel, but I wouldn’t be surprised judging from what he says to her that there had been off screen run-ins between the two. The only previous appearance I remember Crow girl having is when she talks to Ruby outside the shrine before she discovers Sensei’s body.
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May 18, 2023 00:45
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Captain Invictus posted:
Responding in spoilers just to be safe, only clearing up a misunderstanding you have. Aqua's father didn't fake his own death, Aqua was just wrong about who is father was. Aqua's half-brother's mom cheated on her husband with Aqua's dad, and the half-brother didn't know about it.
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May 18, 2023 00:53
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ZiegeDame posted:Responding in spoilers just to be safe, only clearing up a misunderstanding you have. Aqua's father didn't fake his own death, Aqua was just wrong about who is father was. Aqua's half-brother's mom cheated on her husband with Aqua's dad, and the half-brother didn't know about it. Yeah it's part of why there was something about Aqua not noticing a loophole or whatever (iirc it was Akane noticing it).
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May 18, 2023 01:33
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Up to chapter 80 now, and I guess I took the whole "reincarnate as the child of an idol" thing as just a way to kick off the story in an interesting way and not be delved into too much further itself(as in, an act of god, but not actually have that literal god appear in physical form), and the eyes thing just a visual indicator rather than a literal indicator of something more. But then the little raven girl showed up and I was like "oh, it's gonna be like this then". When that happened and aqua didn't find the body, I instantly knew who would, though I guess I figured they would stumble upon it out in the forest rather than actively be led to it hidden in a shrine by a mischievous godchild's familiar. I do like the twist with ruby becoming aqualike and the change to her eyes, too, nice touch. And hell yeah, akane!
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May 18, 2023 05:40
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oh my god, the ritual purification chapter, incredible That entire storyline was excellent, and the capstone was just  . It would never work irl, but boy was it fun to readAlso I forgot to say, but reading the scanlations that have little end of chapter notes attached really helps with context with a lot of things. Like how akane's situation on the reality show was likely based on a real world incident that led to the suicide of a cast member who was demonized by the way she was portrayed in the show, resulting in immense online harassment. Some people can easily deflect that and others soak it up like a sponge, and I felt it really did an excellent job of portraying that.
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May 18, 2023 07:36
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Really? A loving tracking device in your girlfriend's keychain plushie? Aqua god drat it you really are a turbo psycho I wager the author got the idea from people irl doing literally that with apple airtags inside stuffed animals and such sent to vtubers and idols to find where they live. considering vtubers were already mentioned in the series it wouldn't surprise me. Also, hilarious to see Second Girl Always Loses still remains ironclad, the seeming victory was only a temporary facade
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May 18, 2023 08:36
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Captain Invictus posted:Aqua god drat it you really are a turbo psycho One of us. One of us. 
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May 18, 2023 08:46
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Captain Invictus posted:Also I forgot to say, but reading the scanlations that have little end of chapter notes attached really helps with context with a lot of things. Like how akane's situation on the reality show was likely based on a real world incident that led to the suicide of a cast member who was demonized by the way she was portrayed in the show, resulting in immense online harassment. Some people can easily deflect that and others soak it up like a sponge, and I felt it really did an excellent job of portraying that. Yeah, Hana Kimura’s situation was tragic, and since the episode featuring that just aired, it definitely brought her whole ordeal back up with the people who had no idea of her existence and are just now learning about her. Definitely hope some good comes of that, if only to have some people reflect on what they do online via social media, but I guess that’s not really likely unfortunately.
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May 18, 2023 12:39
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the hidive episode description is like "Remember what you said online? You might have felt righteous anger, and you might not have seen the consequences, but that doesn't absolve you of responsibility." which, jeez
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May 18, 2023 12:55
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Endorph posted:the hidive episode description is like Yeah, I saw that. Definitely a well deserved punch to the gut for some people, but the people who definitely need to see it the most aren’t going to unfortunately.
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May 18, 2023 13:26
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OH MAN THE TRADE WITH THE REPORTER, HOLY poo poo. PIIIISSSS really like how much it paints paparazzi mostly as the loathsome scum they are, too
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May 19, 2023 06:22
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Binged all the way to the current chapter, hell of a chapter to catch up on too. Fantastic series, I'd say a 9, maybe 9.5 out of 10. meddlesome gods are such a pain. ZiegeDame posted:Responding in spoilers just to be safe, only clearing up a misunderstanding you have. Aqua's father didn't fake his own death, Aqua was just wrong about who is father was. Aqua's half-brother's mom cheated on her husband with Aqua's dad, and the half-brother didn't know about it. kirtar posted:Yeah it's part of why there was something about Aqua not noticing a loophole or whatever (iirc it was Akane noticing it). iirc that was also before I found out the story was much more supernatural than I thought it would be(initial premise notwithstanding), so I was hoping for a lost purpose arc for aqua after having his extremely unhealthy dreams dashed. I'd still have been interested to see the author take that on since I think they could do it well, but I also enjoy the way things have gone.  And this is definitely going to be tmi so I guess I'll spoiler it for those who want to avoid extremely tragic and harrowing rl poo poo so you have been warned, butI've really been interested in aqua's path in particular, because I relate to him a LOT. No I didn't reincarnate into a baby or have my mom get stabbed to death in front of me, obviously. but my little sister was murdered and the evidence largely destroyed, most everything covered up, it was declared a suicide by government officials wanting to avoid an international incident(this is apparently quite common) and newspapers ran with that, and the culprit got away with it. everyone involved in her supposed protection went on the defensive and lawyered up rather than accept fault. Within days everyone had moved on, just "Another Dead White Girl, Such A Tragedy"(that is honestly what hit me the most and hooked me early on with this series, not Ai's death, but the extremely brutal and frank reality of how transient the news cycle is and some bad weather completely shunting her horrific murder and its precedent and inconvenience for the industry right out of the picture). One org moved their entire company out of country to avoid legal interaction, another org said if my parents sued they'd only get at most a capped 100k and the org would fight against it, the government of the place she was killed holding her corpse hostage and mutilating it by removing all parts that could be tested for drugging or evidence of foul play during the autopsy, that they demanded they be able to do for us to be able to even be able to recover her body, which they shipped to us unpreserved in a plywood casket-crate thing so the second autopsy we had done locally was basically pointless. More awful poo poo i wont even mention. The only reason we even know she was murdered rather than it being a suicide like the people there told us is because she was training to be a photographer and the cops who showed up didn't have a camera to take crime scene photos, so they used her camera for them and then wiped the memory card. When my dad got ahold of it he un-wiped it and found those photos, and the coroner he showed them to said "oh, she was absolutely not conscious at the time of death, she didnt do this herself". That's really one of the only things that has kept me going, that it wasn't her decision, someone did it TO her. But investigations are expensive, and nothing came of any of it. My parents nearly bankrupted themselves trying to do so. I won't lie, I very, very, VERY much saw myself in aqua; for a very long time after I saw her corpse and found out the truth I was extremely like him in mentality. The horrifically dark, ugly, cold, hidden wrath with no target. Wanting to overturn heaven and earth and find the guy who did it, do unspeakable things to him, "I will go down if it means I drag you to hell with me", etc. Probably still would, if i found who it was and you put them in front of me, even if I have "moved on" since it has been so long. But life ain't a manga, and the bad guys certainly dont always face justice. Also, yes, I have been to a lot of therapy and grief counseling. There are things therapy cannot fix. Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 08:18 on May 19, 2023 |
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May 19, 2023 08:04
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Holy poo poo dude that's awful, I'm so sorry you and your folks had to go through that experience
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May 19, 2023 10:53
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Holy crap, I am sorry you and your folks had to go through all of that bullshit.
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May 19, 2023 13:21
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I'm sorry for all the horrors inflicted upon you.
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May 19, 2023 15:21
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Captain Invictus posted:
loving hell dude, i'm so sorry.
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May 19, 2023 15:40
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with the anime running the early arcs compared to current stuff happening, forgot Akane started off as a very weak actor. compared to the super method actor she is now.
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May 20, 2023 03:07
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No, she's always been a great actor, she just didn't understand the assignment for reality TV. She thought she was supposed to be herself, and she doesn't know what to do with that.
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May 20, 2023 03:11
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Akane explicitly needs a reference to work with to apply her skills, and it turned out using herself as a reference was a no-go.
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May 20, 2023 03:29
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She's even struggled with portraying a simply badly written character, as seen in the first draft of the anime play.
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May 20, 2023 03:30
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I'm pretty bummed that soon after I posted about hoping that Ai got reincarnated into someone too to give us a happy ending, the closest thing we've seen so far to God in the manga came right out and said "Yeah nope, she's dead and gone forever." It's still a strong story choice to make everything as impactful as possible, but drat after seeing those early chapters again animated (and with one of my favorite VA's as AI making it sting even more) I really wanted Ai to not just be gone.
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May 22, 2023 03:35
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while I've not read the rest of the thread, who's to say the god-child isn't just loving with people? gods are often mischievous and inscrutable beings whose words cannot always be taken on good faith, japanese deities are no exception. I also wonder about the origin of the star-eyes, too, whether they're an indicator of more than just a "mood ring" of sorts since they turn black when the person has malicious or despairing vengeance, depression, suicidal etc mentality, and colorful when they're happy, satisfied with life, emotionally stable, innocent. I wonder if akane getting the star eyes when she emulates Ai is more than a visual indicator, if Ai was special in a different way since her, her children, and akane specifically mimicking her are the only ones who show it. regardless, I'm definitely not taking the godchild at its word right now. we don't even know who it is for sure, obviously with the ravens all over the loving place it's probably yatagarasu if not amaterasu, but why they are doing what they're doing and why they singled out these two to be reincarnated rather than return to the sea of souls is very sus. I'm sure it's all an elaborate and convoluted plan to have these two's souls end up at peace since they both died tragic deaths, but why these two specifically when tragedy happens everywhere(their mother, for example!) basically, I'm of the opinion that everything to do with the characters, the dialogue, the story, the drama, the humor, the behind the scenes stuff, is a 9.5 out of 10, and everything to do with Supernatural Bullshit is like a 3. I thought it was fine as a premise to get these two into a new life, but once it started to manifest in the actual story with a face and stuff, I started to roll my eyes. I don't like the godchild appearing and pointing the characters in a direction, when they've had excellent journeys on their own paths, I guess. edit: I keep forgetting the dad has the eyes too. like what's with the eyes, it's gotta be more than just a visual thing. another god's meddling, perhaps? Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 04:52 on May 22, 2023 |
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May 22, 2023 04:50
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Personally I'm of the opinion that the star eyes are like shirogane's orange hair in kaguya, it's entirely just for visuals Not that there isn't a likely metaphorical meaning behind it, but I don't think it's something that the characters literally see in the world
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May 22, 2023 04:56
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Other characters have also gotten star eyes when they are particularly into a performance. It's just like... star power. The qualities of being a star. Edit: Akane for example, even when not performing as Ai.
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May 22, 2023 05:05
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Raserys posted:Personally I'm of the opinion that the star eyes are like shirogane's orange hair in kaguya, it's entirely just for visuals I want to agree with you, but only four characters have them, all from the same parent/child group, or when mimicking one of said group. I can see it going either direction at this point. Clarste posted:Other characters have also gotten star eyes when they are particularly into a performance. It's just like... star power. The qualities of being a star. anyways, if they're just mood indicators, that's fine, if they're not, I'm also curious to see if they have any further meaning. I'm more wondering how much god-meddling we're going to get. Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 05:10 on May 22, 2023 |
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May 22, 2023 05:06
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Raserys posted:Personally I'm of the opinion that the star eyes are like shirogane's orange hair in kaguya, it's entirely just for visuals 
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May 22, 2023 08:11
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Star eyes have been notable in characters for so long, and kept evolving over the course of the manga, so I feel like there's more to it than just purely a mood/mindset indicator. My headcanon is that everyone in the manga and anime see the star eyes just like we do and just go with it or think the characters are wearing special contacts that they actually aren't wearing.
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May 22, 2023 12:06
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Captain Invictus posted:who else besides akane? I don't remember her getting them when not acting as Ai, but I may have just missed it. It's not "not Akane" but this is what I was thinking of:  Akane gets the star eyes when she's portraying a manga character very well, not just when she's acting as Ai.
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May 22, 2023 13:30
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Clarste posted:It's not "not Akane" but this is what I was thinking of: Unless she's pretending to be Ai pretending to be a manga character.
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May 22, 2023 17:06
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My personal feeling is it kind of represents... becoming someone else? Lying about who you are, I suppose, though not necessarily in a negative way. Akane is really method (if that's the right way to use that) in her acting, so when she becomes someone else she gets the star eyes. Ai spent her life pretending to be somebody. Aqua and Ruby have one star because they're still, inside, kind of their original selves pretending to be new people. The black stars are black for drama, but also because they are deliberately embracing being a horrible monster to accomplish some goal. I'm not 100% on this theory but it's what I'm thinking for now.
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May 23, 2023 00:19
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Captain Invictus posted:I want to agree with you, but only four characters have them, all from the same parent/child group, or when mimicking one of said group. I can see it going either direction at this point. The weird eyes are entirely metaphorical. It's not like like Frill Shiranui is an actual lizard person.
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May 23, 2023 19:28
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To be honest I don't really understand why anyone would think they're not metaphorical, unless we're postulating that they live in a fantasy world where the only difference is that people can have bizarre magic eyes that are extremely rare yet also not notable enough to comment on except in vague terms like "she has captivating eyes." As opposed to her just having captivating eyes.
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May 23, 2023 20:12
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Why would they draw it if it weren't real? It's like that chapter of Kaguya where she literally shrunk for a day because of how tired she was.
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May 23, 2023 21:37
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yeah if they were literal you'd think people would say 'you have ai's magic eyes' and not 'something about you reminds me of her...'
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May 23, 2023 21:50
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the idol sharingan
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May 23, 2023 21:50
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Ai's ais are full of ai
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May 23, 2023 21:52
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Endorph posted:the idol sharingan The Hoshigan
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May 23, 2023 23:20
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trucutru posted:The weird eyes are entirely metaphorical. It's not like like Frill Shiranui is an actual lizard person.
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May 24, 2023 01:24
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