Over the past year, I had the urge to catalog my shelves and had the great idea of dusting off my Goodreads account and getting to work. In this post, I’ve decided to let my metric-loving-nerd shine a tad by adding analytics rather than just rattling off my reading list. I was initially going to just use StoryGraph but I actually came across a Hardback Hoarder on YouTube that make’s immaculate spreadsheets! I was able to clean my Goodreads data (after a horrendous all nighter) and get a more accurate depiction of my literary year to share with the Class!!!
So, yes… I’m basically bringing you the equivalent of a Spotify wrapped… โจbut make it booksโจ
This year, I read 190 books with a total of 43,101 pages and I am SUPER proud of myself for that actually ๐
Towards the end of this year, I slowly began to detach from the things I loved to do, books I planned to read, shows I wanted to watch. I’ve been trying to pull myself out of this proverbial funk and got to reading and making content again (ish) with things like this post!
Since becoming a full-time working adult over the past year, and sorely missing the luxury of time I had as a student, I found myself regularly burnt out. The feeling absolutely SUCKS and leaves me exhausted beyond the ability to even focus on subtitles for a 20-minute episode.
Another reason why I’m proud of myself is because I actually read more novels this year as well! A rekindled love for audiobooks really helped me throughout some tough times and kept my imagination alive this year. I can burn through a comic like nobodies business so they helped to tackle some longer reads for sure. And in my endeavor to read more novels, my wallet began coughing cobwebs, so I definitely recommend Libby and HooplaDigital as great resources for accessing ebooks and audiobooks through your public library!
First and foremost, it should come to no one’s surprise that all my reading was 100% fictitious. Like who do y’all think I am???
While my StoryGraph data isn’t the most accurate, I really like the mood metric it gives. I’m glad that my reads can span across this many moods to begin with and this is just within the past year. For the most part you can see that my kryptonite are lighthearted, yet emotional, stories that are funny, adventurous, but dark at the same time… ain’t that a kick ๐
In comparison, I have the genre metrics tracked through my spreadsheet that captures the main and sub genres. Romance is no surprise because I can honestly find the romance in just about any book with my lovely rose-colored fu-shades.
Thought that this was interesting to see the publishers on my shelf this year as well. No surprise that ViZ dominates with Seven Seas and Kodansha coming up from behind. Noted that I also have some self published works too along with some smaller publishers that have come in to the mix recently like ShuCream!
Most of my reads were defined as medium paced by StoryGraph’s categorization with titles such as Red, White & Royal Blue, Kageki Shojo, and Blue Giant being along that speed.
According to Goodreads, The Girl from the Other Side was my longest book at 540 pages, and my shortest book was Atsuko Yusen Sensei’s Deko-Boko Sugar Days Extra (2): Sugar Rush! that was 42 pages.
Goodreads shows that my average book length in 2022 was 207 pages. I’m pleasantly surprised to see that a quarter of the books I read this year were 300+ pages long. That 1% book for 500+ happens to be omnibus edition of The Girl from the Other Side by Nagabe Sensei and WHEW she was a thickin๐
I hop around a lot but had some reoccurring authors in the mix this year. Kanno Aya Sensei was my number one because I read 14 volumes by them this year. And following just behind is Fujimoto Sensei (11) and Akutami Sensei (7).
I had a lot of authors where I read around 2-4 from each so honorable mentions to some of my runner ups: Rick Riordan (5) for my PJO Brainrot era and MXTX (4) for my dearest SY.
Like I mentioned, My StoryGraph data isn’t the best but this graphic comparing my books to pages over the years was pretty cool, especially when I was reading less books but more pages like okay literary minded me ๐๐ ๐ฝ
Since its not just me and my braincells but literally millions of other people on Goodreads, they also provide some metrics that compare my shelf to others.
Now there is no doubting the power of Uncle Rick because look, I didn’t ask to be a half-blood. However, one thing about Goodreads is that not all of the manga that’s been translated to English have their English titles on here so some are only in the original Japanese. So I’m going to say that’s the reason why literally only one other person and myself on this whole site have shelved Kiss that Stains the Innocence because ShuCream Publishing has worked TOO doggone hard and I appreciate them so much ๐ญ
Now, while I don’t rate my books (because they’d literally be all 10s), there is no surprise that the highest rated out of the 190 was Classmates: blanc by Nakamura Asumiko Sensei.
โจTo end us out, I present a lovely collage of book covers from this year โจ
Side Note: my friend gave sent me this picture as a guide post since I always tell them I’m so bad at rating things ๐
Just might be the move going forward because I did indeed find Blanc so good that I will ignore flaws and re-read at some point in my life ๐
The Breakdown…
All of this comes down to 190 Books (+1 re-read), 43,101 Pages, 137 Physical, 46 Digital, 7 Mixed (audio+physical/digital), 22 Library Rentals, 162 Manga, 23 Novels, 3 Dojinshis, 1 Manhwa, 1 Graphic Novel
Not as straight-forward as my 2021 wrap up, but I had to quell my curiosity and of course bring the Class along for the ride ๐
I really want to make a YouTube video based on this post and already have something in the works for the idea around it but the actual execution ๐ซ ๐ … Wish me luck Class lol
I hope to do this same thing again by keeping up with this new spreadsheet I’ve poured half my soul into, but we’ll see how the cookie crumbles for 2023 ๐
๐Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time!!! ๐ ๐ฅณ Happy New Year ๐ฅณ
Anyone following the series knows that the journey of Kii Kanna Sensei’s Umibe no Etranger: L’รฉtranger de la Plage from manga to film has been a long one. So, I have been eagerly awaiting the day that I’d be able to fully talk about its entirety being, both the manga AND the film.
Umibe No Etranger (Manga & Film)
Most of the manga that I’ve read have yet to see the light of an anime film or show adaptation, so I haven’t done many comparisons of the two. However, I really wanted to give it a try with Umibe no Etranger because I find it interesting that from this one manga alone there are so many formats to dive into.
But before we go off the deep end here, let’s get our feet wet with a rundown of this series.
Umibe No Etranger : Shun & Mio (Left, Right)
The story starts with our protagonist, Shun, who is a novelist that’s now living on a small island outside of Okinawa with his aunt after being disowned by his parents. Looking out to a bench by the sea, Shun begins to notice Mio, a high school student in his last year dealing with the death of his own parents. Just as the two start opening up to each other, Mio has to leave the island. Three years later, Mio returns to the island to confess his feelings, but is this relationship something Shun is ready for?
Umibe No Etranger in its many forms
Umibe no Etranger: L’รฉtranger de la Plage by Kii Kanna Sensei starts with the manga that ran from July 2013 – 2014 in the magazine OnBLUE. Rentalicensed the manga digitally in English first, in 2016, with the title Stranger By The Beach. Umibe no Etranger was adapted into an anime film under Blue Lynx and had its theatrical release in September of last year. This July, Funimation released the English sub and dub of the film under the title Stranger By The Shore, and Seven Seas Entertainment later published the English print version of the one-shot using Seaside Stranger.
Umibe No Etranger (Funimation)
Umibe no Etranger has a total of FOUR English versions: A subbed film, a dubbed film, and TWO manga translations!!!! So instead of doing a comparison of just the manga and the anime, I’ve decided to showcase “The Battle of The Strangers” : Sub Vs Dub, Renta Vs Seven Seas, and lastly, Anime Vs Manga.
Battle 1 : Umibe No Etranger (Sub) vs. Stranger By The Shore (Dub)
Umibe No Etranger (Funimation)
Now, I will preface this section with the fact that I typicallyprefer English sub over dub. However, I am a firm believer that everyone is fully entitled to their own anime experience because at the end of the day it’s your own eyes, your own ears, and most importantly, your own business.
With that said, I clearly do watch dub from time to time and don’t immediately write it off as bad because we wouldn’t be here having this conversation otherwise.
I have to say that from the jump I was honestly shocked by the announcement of a dub to begin with. Even though this isn’t the first time a BL has been dubbed before (Insert Hitorijime My Hero and Love Stage), the only hope of my one tracked braincell was that SOMEONE would pick up this film for AT LEAST an English sub.
Given: MovieTwittering Birds Never Fly The Clouds GatherGiven & Twittering Birds Never Fly Movie – 2 out of BlueLynx’sGiven Big 3
Being the last film yet to have an official English sub out of, what I like to call, the “Blue Lynx Big Three,” I was starting to lose hope of ever being able to see the one-shot I loved so much on the big screen. But, I am BEYOND thankful that the powers that be had other plans.
When they first announced the Japanese cast I was already shaking the table. Shun is voiced by Murata Taishi, who you may have heard in his roles as Ibusaki and Akinori in Food Wars and Haikyลซ!! respectively. Matsuoka Yoshitsugu voiced the role of Mio, another well known voice actor with his long running roles of Yukihira Sลma (also Food Wars lol) and Kirito (Sword Art Online).
The emotions that the entire original cast brought through their characters was absolutely lovely. Overall, hearing the characters come to life was a wonderful experience and I couldn’t have asked for more!
Umibe No Etranger (Funimation)
Despite my preference for Sub, I knew that I had to see the Dub after the cast was released. My avid dub watchers were very excited to see Josh Grelle as the voice of Shun in this film. But what made me snap my neck was seeing Mio being voiced by Justin Briner. Yes. DUB IZUKU MIDORIYA. And even though I don’t watch MHA Dubbed, I had to know. Not only that, both of them were cast in Stars Align as Toma and Maki which was a dub I also enjoyed.
Toma and Maki – Stars Align (Funimation)
An issue that I’ve commonly had with dub is that the English script will sometimes dramatically deviate from the original content’s message, but I didn’t have that with Stranger By The Shore. While watching the dub, I felt that the English cast did a great job evoking the same, if not very similar, emotions that I had when first watching the film in its original Japanese audio.
To put it simply, I enjoyed both.
Yep… You read it right… Both.
Queen Eri – Umibe No Etranger (Funimation)
I am not exaggerating when I say that it is extremely rare for me to finish watching a dub and say that I enjoyed it just as much or even remotely close to the way that I enjoyed the sub.
I do think there were times where the dub script made some of the lines for certain scenes a bit more direct than the nuanced way I felt the original presented them, but I don’t think that element took away from the story’s overall message.
Umibe No Etranger (Funimation)
There was one line from the English script that I thought was done beautifully, when Eri and Shun are sitting outside he says:
“I was just wondering, what makes us all so afraid? of two men or two women being together? All the things we could fear in this world, and we choose love.”
THAT. That was beautiful.
Umibe No Etranger (Funimation)
Having now watched both versions, more times than I’m willing to admit, the translated English subtitles in comparison to the dub script were just about line for line. The reason why I appreciate this so much is because it respects the source material and doesn’t feel like I’m watching two different anime.
So, at least in my opinion, both the sub and dub were magnificently cast and I could 100% feel their chemistry shine throughout the entire film.
Battle 2: Stranger By The Beach (Renta!) Vs. Seaside Stranger (Seven Seas)
Umibe No Etranger (Renta & Seven Seas Entertainment)
I’ve mentioned before how I prefer print to digital on multiple occasions, but when it comes to situations similar to this, sometimes the digital version is all you have.
For YEARS, the only official English version that I’ve ever had was the Renta version, and I can’t go without saying how thankful I am for it to have existed to begin with.
My love for this series opened my wallet, so I did purchase the original Japanese prints of Umibe no Etranger and the continuing series Harukaze no Etranger (all at the low low cost of both my legs). And with my limited, but growing, knowledge of the Japanese language I always held out hope for a print version.
When I saw the announcement from Seven Seas Entertainment that they’d be producing an official English print I was beyond the moon with joy. Something about having a good book in my hands and thumbing through the pages just has such a comforting feel.
It felt like my birthday seeing the notification that my copy had been delivered and I ripped open my package as soon as I got my hands on it.
My Japanese and English Prints
The print version is wrapped, which typically indicates that a series is Mature (18+), but Seven Seas rates it as Older Teen (17+). I’d mentioned before that I read this first on Renta, and I recall it being mature while it was on there. So, personally I’d only recommend to Mature (18+) audiences because if you’re at the bookstore buying wrapped manga they ask to confirm.
Yes, I’ve been asked for my ID at the bookstore buying BL… Multiple times…
Umibe No Etranger (Seven Seas Entertainment)
Coming back to the print, the volume has a smooth matte cover and is in the smaller standard Seven Seas manga size.
I feel like people who work on designing, lettering, and translating manga are not thanked enough. As I read through the print I noticed the attention to detail that the print had from the dialogue bubbles to the background noise.
Since all that I’ve had for so long was the digital Renta version it was easy to pick out the difference in translation reading the print from Seven Seas. It wasn’t anything drastic but some of the wording could give off a slightly different feel. However, I think regardless of the delivery they both hit the same target.
All in all, I’m VERY thankful for BOTH of these versions and the work of the staffs that made them possible!!!
FINAL BATTLE : Umibe No Etranger Film vs. Manga
Umibe No Etranger Film and Manga
The manga is the source. The origin. The provenance. This is where it all began. Without it, where would we be? Drifting in the endless sea of-
Okay I’ll stop lol…
Kii Kanna Note Illustration
What I’m trying to say is that the manga is the reason why we’re even here in the first place. In my opinion, there’s no way I could hold up the manga and the film to judge which is better than the other because they’re two different entities.
I have a love-hate relationship with one-shots because while they’re lovely to read, they more often than not leave me wanting more. That wave of longing definitely crashed into me when I first read Umibe no Etranger. The story in the manga does try to incorporate as many pieces as possible from start to finish. At the same time, there’s only so much anyone can do in a 200+ page one-shot, especially being done on the premise that it won’t continue into something more.
Umibe no Etranger – Final Chapter
In the note from Kii Kanna Sensei, Umibe no Etranger started out as a short story that led to a one-shot which turned into a series (Harukaze no Etranger). So, It’s amazing to me that this love story of Mio and Shun started from something so small and grew into what we have now.
As previously mentioned, for the film, I thought that the characters were cast wonderfully. The Original Soundtrack added an extra layer of emotions, especially for those heart wrenching scenes. And although I’m not a pro Audio Engineer, all the sounds in the background from the sea to the flip flops on the sand really drove home the essence of summer that this film embodies.
Now, let’s put these two head to head and get ready to rumble.
Umibe No Etranger (Funimation)
It had been at least a year since I last read Umibe no Etranger, so I was walking into the film fairly fresh. I still remembered the main parts of the story, but when I hit play on the film I thought my braincell was finally at its limit because it wasn’t quite how I remembered it.
Low and behold, I was right.
Thee Girlfriends (Suzu & Eri) – Umibe No Etranger (Funimation)
It wasn’t until I went back and read after watching that I realized all the differences in story’s structure between the manga and the film’s adaptation.
And though I’m sure there are those who will disagree, after going back and reading I didn’t see the film’s changes as a detriment to the overall story. Yes, as a reader you’re going to notice the parts that are missing or changed, but for the medium it used to convey the story, I don’t consider the film’s adaptation to be far off the mark that is manga.
Out of everything, I’d have to say there were roughly four elements that stuck out to me the most.
Umibe no Etranger : Chapter 2 – Renta
Starting with Mio and Shun’s interactions. Post reunion in the manga, they were a lot more lovey-dovey than they were presented in the film. Prime example being that all the kisses they shared leading up to the hotel scene were nowhere to be found. Shun’s snippiness in the film really kept Mio at bay, but do I think that creative decision added more weight to the tension that was growing between them before they finally get to said hotel scene.
Umibe no Etranger – xChapter 1 & Film
On the less physical end of their interactions, the second element was that the film makes it seem like Mio really didn’t contact Shun at all. Especially since Shun’s character doesn’t really hold it over Mio’s head as much as he does in the manga.
Now, the congratulations postcard that Mio sends to Shun is still in the film, but you don’t even see that it’s FROM Mio. So, while I’m screaming and pointing at my screen, it’s more of a breadcrumb for the viewer’s who’ve read the manga, and not everyone’s done that or even will. But again, I think this also emphasizes the distance between them in the start of the film that makes them bridging the gap all the more sweeter to see.
Umibe no Etranger (Funimation)
Another part was Mio’s navigation of his feelings for Shun. There’s a flashback in the film where Mio is making a delivery to the owner of Mimi’s Bar and briefly tells them about his situation with Shun in a roundabout way of seeking advice.
I’m under the assumption that this was in place of the manga scene when Mio initially tried to call Shun from the mainland but got Eri instead.
In that scene, she expresses to Mio that Shun is gay and that essentially Mio shouldn’t string him along if he’s not sure about his feelings. That was the moment that Mio decided to take the time to consider what his true feelings are for Shun before contacting him again.
Umibe no Etranger – Chapter 2 – Renta
Watching the flashback to Mimi’s Bar for the first time confused me, because Mio’s character design looked relatively the same as he did in the present. But watching it a second time made me go ohhhhh okay that’s what’s happening.
I don’t think the change to Mimi’s Bar negatively impacted the film’s way of presenting the story because it still made sense to me with the way they set up Mio’s distance from Shun over the past three years.
Umibe no Etranger (Funimation)
The last element was one that probably stood out the most: flashbacks. The film heavily leaned into flashbacks for both Mio and Shun’s characters. The memory of Shun’s school days and Mio’s memories of his mother were the two that I felt the film hit on the most. I’m actually really glad for them going into Mio’s memories more in general because it really brought out just how much his character values family.
As someone who has read the manga, of course these elements in the film are going to stand out by comparison, but that doesn’t necessarily make it a bad thing to me.
Umibe no Etranger (Funimation)
After going back and reading I didn’t see the film’s changes as a detriment to the overall story. I also believe that Kii Kanna Sensei being attached to this project as a supervisor and character designer for the film is part of the reason why their distinct art style and story still shined throughout the film so well. But it goes without saying that there’s only so much that can be done, and be kept, in a film with under an hour to work with.
Umibe no Etranger (Funimation)
The way I see it is that the film’s adaptation takes a more subtle approach to the story, where as the manga spells it out for you. And for me, I feel that each of them were the appropriate choice for the medium the story was being told in.
There are plenty of stories that have changes going from page to screen, and vice versa (don’t forget about those adapted from shows/films). The most important question I ask myself is: Did the medium the story was adapted to use it in a way that effectively communicated the message of its original source? And for me, Umibe No Etranger did just that.
I’m just so happy that I’ve finally seen the day that I’d have the opportunity to talk about both the manga and the anime film together for Umibe No Etranger. I can’t remember the last time I wrote this extensively, and it’s probably 98% ramblings, but if you made it this far I hope you enjoyed ๐
This post is my attempt at a proactive first step for planning a video to cover the same things I’ve written here on my YouTube Channel! So, if you rather watch/listen to my braincell fall apart, that’s something you can look forward to ๐
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time! ๐
English Sub and Dub for Umibe no รtranger: Stranger by The Shore is available to stream on Funimation
Find where to buy your print and/or digital copy of Seaside Stranger: Umibe no Etrangerthrough Seven Seas Entertainment
Note: Despite there being a rating of TV-14 and Older Teen (17+) to the film and English print respectively, I would suggest looking into trigger warnings before starting this series.
I don’t think that I walk into any year with a clear set of goals I want to accomplish. If anything, I just go through the year hoping to move safely through the days in hope of seeing the next one with my loved ones.
When I think about my channel and platforms I’ve made content on so far, I know I’m not as active as I used to be, but I’ve passed the part of me beating myself up about it. The transition from full-time student to full-time employee was definitely not what I thought it would be nor easy (not that I thought it would be, but some prep would’ve been nice lol).
2022 was a massive year of burn out for me, both in the things I loved for fun and work. So I think my goal for this year, along with surviving, are more along the lines of reflecting on my mindset to set more realistic expectations for myself. While there are times to push oneself, there should also be times to appreciate what is actually possible as well.
Most of the books I purchased during last year’s Black Friday sale are pre-orders, so I’m definitely going to pull back on the amount of additional purchases outside of those. It’s kind of a good thing because my TBR pile is staring at me as I type this, but here I go, ready to read along with yet another audiobook. Unless there is a buy 2 get 1 free deal with books-a-million, my hope is to not buy any new manga until I can crack down on this pile of physicals.
Speaking of audiobooks, while they are my saviors in getting me back into novels, they have equally become a curse in stunting my progress on my physical TBR. I get so carried away and find new series to try that I end up loving and then get absorbed into three or four 22-hour long audiobooks a week. Meanwhile, I’ve been stuck on the second chapters of both TGCF 4 and SVSSS 4. I want to finish Scum Villain at the very least this year if not TGCF. However, I’m still going to keep reading audiobooks because I’d like to read more novels as well.
This past month I’ve surprisingly have had a good bit of time to at least make a dent in the manga that I accumulated over this first half of the season as spring quickly approaches. It will be a challenge with work picking up out of the holiday slump but I’m happy to be employed so a girl will make something shake regardless. With that being said, much like last year I’m going to shift to seasonal manga hauls for my reading recaps. I think seasonal hauls will give me more things to say, especially with the amount of time I have to actually read varies so heavily on my schedule.
One of these days I hope to get back into watching anime like I used to. I can’t remember the last show that I watched week to week and it’s kind of sad (at least to me lol). Maybe my tune will change once Attack on Titan comes back so I can fight for our favorite war criminal, but who knows since they want to play around and split part 3 into TWO parts. The only thing that I’ve really been watching is JOJOs part 6 when I’m on the road with the occasional peek into other newer series. However, I am proud to say that I have finally reached the point in One Piece that I only have 100 episodes until I’m caught up with the rest of the world. I would have never thought that I’d get to this point but here we are in the land of Wano. If I’m being honest, my only goals for anime is to finish JOJOs part 6 and catch up with One Piece.
oh the monster that I have become… a JOJO-ist AND a straw hat…
So I guess the long and short of it is that I’m going to:
Set realistic expectations for myself and do things at my own pace
Finish my physical manga TBR before buying anything new (unless there’s a sale or something I’ll cry without it)
Read along with more audiobooks
Shift to Seasonal Manga Hauls for YouTube
Try finishing an MXTX series
Catch up with JOJOs and One Piece
Longer list than I thought came out of this, but sometimes sitting down and just typing it out can help me get my braincells together.
If you made it this far, thanks for listening to my incessant ramblings and we’ll see how this year shakes out! Happy New Year Class and stay safe out there!!๐๐ฅณ
As Iโm thousands of miles in the sky on the edge of September, Iโve been wondering what to write about for this monthโs blog post. Between work and release dates there hasnโt been much meshing between the two for me to get into a good space for reading. However, September was my Birthday month, so I will be using my splurges as my scapegoat topic for this post until I can sit down and read the latest TGCF volume lol.
While I feel like my work this month was a never ending green light, being my birthday โn all, I did make sure my retail therapy and self care modes were in full effect whenever I got the chance.
First I was surprised to find out that I was one of the winners for Mantaโs semantic error giveaway! They actually made PHYSICAL english copies of season 1 and it was so cool to see it in print. I have read up to season 2 but I saw season 3 recently picked up so Iโll need to get on the ball and start reading again.
Speaking of manhwa, I also randomly started reading Full Volume on LezhinComics and yโallโฆ. I was noottttt expecting to be as invested as I got if Iโm being hontest. It was a rough week and I didnโt feel like doing a dam thing. When I was on insta, I saw merch for it in one of my suggested posts so I decided to check it out. When I tell you it took just one morning and season 1 was gone ๐ I even had to buy COINS ๐ญ๐ the plot (yes the actual dam plot) has been intriguing so far and I like how weโre starting to learn a bit more about the main coupleโs backgrounds moving into season 2. I had to slow my roll because Iโm still keeping up with some other LezhinComics titles but the tea is promising!
For some reason Iโve been on my whimy buys and circled back to ThriftBooks. They had black butler volumes for like half the price and itโs been AGES since I read them so I went, โyou know what, letโs do it to itโ *sends to shopping cart*
Iโve been browsing ThriftBooks a lot more now that Iโve started reading novels with audiobooks on Libby. I can usually find them cheaper than most of the manga available. Right now Iโm looking to get Anne Riceโs Interview With The Vampire and a few more in the chronicle series. Having only watched the film version, Iโm super excited for this new adaptation on AMC for the series. The way that the staff working on the show described thief experience and process in adaptations Anne Riceโs works was truly captivating so Iโd really like to read them myself one day. It has been such a wonderful year for Queer media and with the promotions and behind the scenes Iโve seen so far, the class will be in for a treat. Like the season hasnโt even kicked off yet and a season 2 has already been confirmed. You best believe I will be tuning in and screaming on one of my various platforms this fall ๐
Along the same thread of (inevitable) obsessions, I watched BECK for the first time this past month and immediately became enamored. Another unexpected find as the result of being lazy after a fought work week; I threw up the dub on a whim because I just felt like watching something non one piece and was glued to the screen for a solid 6-8 hours. Like yโall it was baadddddddddโ I bought the home video and BOTH ost albums. I even whipped out my old laptop with a CD player to burnโ yes, I said burn babe, we have rootsโthe discs and add them to my iTunes library. Face and Slip Out have remained on heavy rotation ever since I fear.
The two new releases I actually did get to read were Classmates O.B. volume 5, Therapy Game Restart volume 2, and the long awaited In Thee Words volume 4!!! These were all so good and while they gave me time to unwind I was sobbing for most of them ๐ญ๐
Thanks for reading my ramblings if you made it this far! Iโll see you in the next post!!
[New Role Unlocked: Bing-ge Protector] [B Points Achieved: +3000!!!]
Before I get into it, all Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s (MXTX) works are marked “RATED 17+” (aka MATURE) by Seven Seas Entertainment for violence, gore, language, and sex, since they are not censoring any content and aim to produce a faithful translation. Furthermore, contents of these works are not limited to what is listed above, so I suggest using Does The Dog Die and TV Tropes to look into additional content trigger warnings, if needed, prior to starting this series.
We once again make our way back to where My MXTX Journey began with Volume 3 of Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong, The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (SVSSS)!!! ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ
As always, I have MANY things to get off my chest. So, let’s go a head and hop into my braincellโs screams, breaking this review into our favorite sections: The Story, Characters, and Memorable Moments.
โ ๏ธIncoming Spoilers; For more info on SVSSS and where to buy, click hereโ ๏ธ
Story
Volume 2 left our Shen Qingqiu (SQQ) between a rock and a hard place in more ways than one.
To save his sect from destruction, SQQ has at last submitted to the ex-white lotus, freshly plucked from the demon realm, Luo Binghe (LBH)โthough he wishes people would stop saying it like that!
But I mean… where’s the lie because theyโre not wrong ๐
LBH has barred his heart to his Shizun, making his desires clear to not only SQQ but literally anyone in a 50-mile radius.
All SQQ longs for is the return of his peaceful days with LBH on Qing Jing Peak, although he knows it’s impossible with present LBH being a truly seasoned demon lord.
As Shen Qingqiu begins to uncover more of Proud Immortal Demon Wayโs hidden plot, including his host bodyโs own backstory, he realizes he must learn to see Luo Binghe for who he truly is if either of them are to survive.
Characters
The memorable moments section is about to be a BingQiu fest so this section is dedicated to the demon daddie king who’s love started it allโ Tainlang
HE. DESERVED. BETTER.
He may have wanted to bring the human realm into a flaming inferno but if we look at the carfax here class… Can we blame him??? All he wanted to do was sing his little songs and chill in the mortal realm but no y’all b*tches want to come in here and paint him a FOOL!!!
Now I get why Airplane-bro didn’t want him to get beat because the full story was just so pitiful and sad.
I knew from the jump that Su Xian wasn’t the one who set him up like that because the story they was telling the class was just toooo offโLow and behold, I was correct. Sis loved his man for real and STILL died in the end after trying to save him and their son.
Aside from the sad sh*t, THE MAN IS FUNNY ๐
Sending his lil snake boi nephew out to go and collect his human realm trinkets and stories is so funny to me. Also, the way he talks sh*t and interacts with SQQ was priceless.
I hope to see him teased in the next season of the donghua because I want to hear what he sounds and acts like lmfao
Side Note: The English print characters are drawn by Velinxi who I find amazingly talented and blessed that they’re bringing these characters to life with their art!!! You can find and follow them on Instagram and Twitter
Memorable Moments
THE PLOT HOLES HAVE BEEN FILLEEEDDDDDDDDD
We didn’t last long in Chateau De LBH because SQQ “died” AGAIN ๐ญ๐ Like poor bebe bingge, because I swear if he had to watch his Shizun die a third time I would have lost it ๐ญ
Between Tianlang being absolutely everything and SQQ trying (and flawlessly failing) to beat the allegations, the whole arc of the Holy Mausoleum was absolutely hilarious.
But the plot hole that I was waiting for SY to fill was SQQ’s backstoryโand wow were we in for a TREAT!!!
We were teased with flashes of Shen Jiuโs past not too long ago, so I was anticipating that weโd get some more info but not like this!!!
As soon as they introduced Qi-ge my braincell started connecting the dots so fast ๐ญ and when they confirmed him as our pure Zhangmen Shixiong I was about to cry for real. Like DUH no wonder he dotes on him ๐ญ making up for lost time โ Iโm getting emotional again ๐ฉ
But coming back to the storyโs main thread, That dam sword (Xin Mo) is the bane of my existence. And the more I think about it, the more I become Cumberbro aka BINGGE PROTECTOR AND APOLOGIST๐ญ๐
Because letโs take a moment and contextualize his backstory, how his past came out, and then the way that Xin Mo essentially capitalized on all of it along with his conflicting emotions which in turn possessed him like โ were his actions realllyyyyy out of scope???? ๐ญ๐
As I said in my last post, binghe is just hurt in every since and became even more so with the events of this volume. Like what did I expect him to do??? Heโs not our Zhangmen Shixiong gege ๐
Now do I think the way he handled some things couldโve been done different?? Of course! But when I factor in the demonic urge chokehold that is Xin Mo I really canโt say a doggone thing because some actions were essentially out of his control in that respect.
Reading lbhโs reaction after he finally gained control back broke meโ like that was NOT fair at all ๐ญ๐ญ
Moving from the trauma filled 85 percent of the volume, we can finally say that Cumberbro can indeed you can you up.
WE HAVE CRACKED THE CODE, MAXED B-POINTS, DEFEATED THE FINAL BOSSโ THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL HAS BEEN REACHED AND OUR MISSION IS ACCOMPLISHED ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ
SYโs goal from the jump has been to make PIDW better than Airplane Broโs version, which ironically became the original plot he intended. This reveal was also a cool way to bring in the authorโs perspective on how the published PIDW came to be and the regrets they had along the way. It makes me wonder about the methodology of other storytellersโ what they truly want to convey vs whatโs going to feed them at the end of the day. So, I think itโs sweet that airplane bro now has no regrets and gets to be at peace with seeing his plot play out as he originally intended.
And with the main story coming to a conclusion comes the question that is usually only quelled by fan fiction and artโ what comes next?
Unlike a regular story, we are reading a story within a story, giving us just a bit more once the stage curtain closes.
Itโs clear that resolution moving forward into the end of this series will be SQQ (Cumberbroโs version) and LBHโs relationship now that everything is said and done. Considering everything that happened, itโll be interesting to see how their relationship develops moving forward.
I’m also assuming that along with the resolution the story we’ll be getting the side stories as well in this final volume. I’ve heard the raves for all MXTX’s side stories so I’m very excited to see what’s in store since we’ve been only covering the main story this whole time.
Before I even started reading SVSSS, I had already heard so much out of context bs from antis that when I think back makes me question if Iโm reading the same bookโbut thank GOODNESS ๏ฟผI can think for myself because if you couldn’t tell from the past two postโbabe, I’m obsessed lmfao ๐
Too its bones, SVSSS is an absurdly funny series that has me in the most severe of chokeholds and I’d do it again without question.
Thank you for reading my ramblings and joining me on my MXTX journey!!! Always here for the SVSSShenanigans!!!
Iโm away from my computer using my iPad to write this in the WordPress app so I hope it comes out okay lol ๐
Thanks again and I’ll see you next time!!!๐
To Make A Long Story Short… The allegations beat SQQโs a**. Lbh is coming out of his Meredith Grey era. PIDW has been bada**ified to the max. Airplane bro was supporting our agenda from the jump all along.
A REASON TO LIVE, A REASON TO FIGHT, A REASON TO WAKE UP ANDPUT YOUR SWAG ON ๐ญ
Before I get into it, all Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s (MXTX) works are marked “RATED 17+” (aka MATURE) by Seven Seas Entertainment for violence, gore, language, and sex, since they are not censoring any content and aim to produce a faithful translation. Furthermore, contents of these works are not limited to what is listed above, so I suggest using Does The Dog Die and TV Tropes to look into additional content trigger warnings, if needed, prior to starting this series.
If you have been following my MXTX journey this far, you know that this post brings us to round three!!!
I decided to pull MDZS out of my current tbr rotation as I’m already burning through volume 3 of Scum Villain!!! But right now, I’m taking a reading break to write about our feature of the month, Tian GuanCi Fu.
After overcoming the awkwardness of strangers watching me keyboard smash my iPad with a million annotations for this volume while being 30k+ feet in the sky, I’ve made my way to my laptop for yet another keyboard smashing sesh.
This third volume of Tian Guan Ci Fu (TGCF) has me officially thrashing about in uncharted waters (lol) now that the story has completely left the donghua‘s first season in the dust. So, yes…*breathes deeply* it is time for screams.
No need to fix what isn’t brokenโ I’ll wrangle my braincell’s ramblings into the same sections as before with The Story, Characters, and Memorable Moments.
โ ๏ธIncoming Spoilers; For more info on TGCF and where to buy, click hereโ ๏ธ
The Story
Gods of the Heavenly Realm are instructed to never meddle in the affairs of mortals. However, we all know our hero with a heart of gold, Xie Lian, is not one to follow the rules.
Needless to say that when it comes to the lives of his people at risk, the former Prince of Xianle chucks caution to the wind without question.
Spitting in the face of the heavens and its laws, he descends to save his country from drought and civil war. Yet Xie Lian gets a harsh double dollop of reality when he discovers just how little oneโeven a godโcan do to save a crumbling nation’s destiny.
As the people reject and betray him, one young soldier stands by Xie Lianโa face bandaged boy with loyalty in his heart that burns as if it’s the sun.
In the midst of this chaotic past, a truly unshakable bond takes root in the ashes of unimaginable destruction.
Characters
The Crown Prince of Xianle. The God-Pleasing Crown Prince. The Martial God. XieโBack that would rather break than bendโLian.
That’s it. That’s the section. Because if I have to wait any longer to scream about the contents of the book and his character I’m going to explode.
… This is probably how Hua Cheng felt for 800 years…
Memorable Moments
Y’all want to talk about a fall from grace?!?!?!?
THE GOD-PLEASING CROWN PRINCE ARC LITERALLY HAD ME SCREAMING, CRYING, TUMBLING DOWN FROM THE HEAVENLY REALM INTO THE FLAMES OF XIANLE, CRASHING FACE FIRST INTO THE GINORMOUS GOLDEN XIE LIAN STATUE, SLIDING DOWN INTO THE PLAZA, TRAMPLED BY A RAGING MOB OF XIANLE CITIZENS.
The start of the arc ushers in the early stages of Xie Lian. A bright eye’d, slightly cocky, prince with heart that unquestionably wraps his character into the perfect package.
Confidence radiates from the core through his character and it’s amazing to see how truly sound he was in himself and the decisions he makes so early on. A large part of this, to me, stems from the environment he was fortunate to grow up in as a prince and the cultivation path he followed.
While his heavenly ascension was a marvel to behold, much like his state preceptor said, it was too soon. He hadn’t lived or seen enough in the short time he flew from his nest. And even though Xie Lian became a martial god on paper, to me, it never felt like he truly ever became one. He was still subconsciously tethered to the role as the Prince of Xianle and that’s where I think the root of his downfall lies.
Becoming a god doesn’t mean you have this superpower that puts the entire world at your disposal, and I love that MXTX writes it this way. There isn’t a big red “SAVE XIANLE” button that Xie Lian can just push to fix everythingโhe has to think, work, sacrifice, and fight for it.
I don’t believe that any of the actions he took were wrong in the slightest because I wouldn’t expect Xie Lian to act any other way. I’d probably be more upset if he didn’t try to save his country the way he did. It was more like his actions were inevitably doomed.
The Kingdom of Xianle was always destined to fall, but, unfortunately, his actions lead him to fall with it.
Reading each dilemma that Xie Lian faced slowly chipped away at his character till it shattered was absolutely heart wrenching. It felt like I was perpetually held in that moment when you’re about to take the drop on a rollercoaster. Breathed hitched, waiting to fall, but remaining there for the entire duration of the arc in utter agony.
Leading me to the point I’ve made several times now that OG Xie Lian and the donghua Xie Lian are WAYYYY different to me.
I 1000% refuse to believe that anyone who’s actually read this book (or at least arc two) would push a uwu babie crown princey narrative to me with a straight face. This arc really gets down to the fundamentals to Xie Lian’s character and how layered his present mannerism truly are.
And on the topic of the present, we have now reached Arc Three: No Paths Are Bound
Seconds after dragging myself out on all fours from the trauma dumpster of Xie Lian’s past, does MXTX really think I can be bamboozled by smothering me with 3000 Blessings Lanterns, adorable HuaLian moments, and SQX’s foineass??????
… I mean like… of course the answer’s yes… tf I look like???
Every moment my brain had down time I was quickly reeling about everything that happened in arc two but it was quickly swept away by the Mid-Autumn Festival with the return of the Simp King himself, Hua Cheng. Which is ANOTHER component contextualized by The God-Pleasing Crown Prince arc that makes EVEN MORE sense than it already did.
A part of me feels like this isn’t the last time that we’ll get to dive into parts of Xie Lian’s past, but right now it’s Adventure Time with the besties. And yes that means BEEFLEAFFFFFFFFF.
Given that the events in the Ghost City didn’t leave BeefLeaf in a favorable spot with Hua Cheng, the downright comical interactions between the three of them at the beginning of this arc leaves me hopeful for what’s to come ๐
and with that, the unfortunate waiting games begin for the next volume…
SUPER Side Note: I might be trippin’, but if the half-smiling, half-crying character a play on the reoccurring “Xie Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry” quote, I’m going to lose my actual mind.
โจCheckpoint 3.0 : SAVED โจThank you for reading my ramblings and continuing with me on my MXTX journey. Always fun to share with the class, especially with a plot as thicque as this one!!! ๐ I’ll see you next time with SVSSS Volume 3 !!!๐
To Make A Long Story Short… XL Throwback Arc ends in a blazing inferno and a basin of tears. BeafLeaf and HuaLian are going on an Adventure Time themed double date.
Life has been just one thing after another lately and it seems like I, along with the rest of the world, can’t seem to catch a dam break ๐ญ But I’m thankful to have stories that let me escape into their worlds, even if it’s only for a small moment in time๐
In an effort to save my streak with keeping this blog active with monthly blog posts, I’m going to dip into some of the behind the scenes action with my recent Spring ’22 Hiatus Haul video.
Though I do appear to be chronically online, I do have a life offline that has just been an unfortunate Jersey remix mashup of organized chaos and burnout. And with May being Mental Health Awareness Month, it made me realize a few things.
Work has been piling on this whole year and life just feels like a mess most of the time. I feel like I haven’t had a moment to truly take a step back and rest for a while now. Lately, all my brain has capacity for after getting torn every which way is to lay down and watch One Piece dubbed until I pass out.
Not really the most conducive routine but that’s where she’s at I fear…
The year is already creeping towards the halfway mark with June staring at me from the corner, but so much (for lack of better phrasing) wild sh*t has happened in my life that I just feel (again, for lack of better phrasing) bleh…
And to top it all off, I’ll just be minding my business trying to be current on the news just to get hit with a slew of the anxiety inducing reports. I already don’t get out much because it’s just not my thing, but just seeing what’s been going on lately makes me want to stay in even more which I know isn’t a good sign for me.
I’ve always created content simply because I enjoy it. However, with how my current state of mind has been, I haven’t had the energy to create anything even when I really want to. And this has honestly been one of the most frustrating things ever.
Between being preoccupied with work and constantly having to stay on my A-Game battling my imposter syndrome, a majority of my time every week disappears in a flash. So by the time I get to the weekend and finish all the things outside of work that piled up during the week, it’s already Sunday night and my TBR is left un touched yet again.
When a month hit and I hadn’t finished my TBR from April I started to freak out because I personally don’t enjoy making hauls on manga I have no clue about. So I said “okay no biggie I’ll just get it done in a week and then I can make the video” โจsh*t happensโจ”okay so no lol…”
The fact that I’m not able to finish my checklist during the week stresses me out. Then getting to the weekend and getting even more behind on the series I wanted to read or watch stresses me out. And the cycle just goes round and round making me all the more physically and emotionally drained beyond reason.
I really started to get into my head about a lot of things when I had to break that track and realize that a lot of the things that have been getting stressed over aren’t within my control. For example, prints haven’t been making their way from warehouses on time so it’ll push release dates and I’ll end up getting all the manga I planned on having at the beginning of the month in the next instead. However, this snowballing stress happens more often than I’d like, and I know that I need to work on making these realization’s sooner so that I can take the blinders off and not tunnel vision on stress.
Because of that, I decided to break my mold for making haul videos to develop this one.
By building my content off of things I enjoy, I like to keep my content as transparent as possible. So for this video, I decided to keep my commentary light and go into more of the why of what I got rather than my thoughts on each of series. With that, I decided to throw in the anime and audio drama’s that I got along the way that have also been consuming both my time and wallet.
Speaking of funds… I don’t know WHO I thought I was these past couple of months but I’m just glad my bank didn’t freeze my account or something because this was out of pocket behavior. So much so that for the entire month of May (save books a million Memorial Day sale) I did not purchase any new physical volumes. All I did was let my discounted pre-orders roll in and catch up on my April TBR.
Doing this kind of helped me a little bit but I still felt bad that I wasn’t putting anything up on my channel and it wasn’t like I made an announcement or anything. I don’t want to quit either but I do have the intrusive thoughts where I’m like, what if I just โจdisappearedโจ
I’ve been doing this for almost 2 years now and it’s wild how much my life has changed from when I initially took that leap. If anything I’ve gotten semi-used-to hearing my own voice over and over again, but now that I can pin point certain nuances, it makes me notice how much I’d been impacted based on what was happening during the times I made certain videos.
I truly commend content creators because your life behind the camera, video editor, google doc, canvas, and/or social media accounts doesn’t fit into posts that your viewer’s enjoy so much. But when times get hectic I think that’s when I fall back on my why.
Whether it be in/outside of workโWhat is my reasoning behind it? What is my why?
I started this channel, and essentially this platform I curated along the way, because it was something that I always wanted to do and kept second guessing myself out of the idea. While I think it’s cool that I get to be the kind of person I never got to see growing up, I’ve never intended to carry that banner myself with this channel, but more so to allow myself to be me and express my love for the things I enjoy.
Having graduated, I severely miss the amount of time I had to dedicate to creating but time waits for no one. With my current schedule, I can’t expect to do the things the way I did back in University. So in this cycle of burnout, I’ve realized that this is a moment where I have to look at the picture from a different perspective. Try some new things, and see what fits.
It is my channel at the end of the day… so that’s one thing I can controllol
Sorry for the very “dear diary”โesque post this month with all the word vomit that is me attempting to process how disjointed my brain has been this year so far ๐ฅด
All I can say is that I hope it gets better because I’m not throwing in the towel on my channel just yet!!! Like anything, I think it will take a little time for me to find my rhythm but I feel like we’ll get there somehow, someway.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading my ramblings and I hope to be back on my MXTX shenanigans one of these days!
TLDR: I was never the kid to say “I want to hurry and grown up,” and I can now confirm that, as I predicted, ADULTING IS ONE OF THE WORST THINGS EVER. -100/10. Remedial testing required. Return to sender, IMMEDIATELY…. but at least I can buy what I want sometimes I guess ๐ฅด
Welcome back to another installment of My Next Life as a Scum Villain!!! Last time may have been a joke, but all routes really do lead to Binghe I fear… ๐ญ๐
Before I get into it, all Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s (MXTX) works are marked “RATED 17+” (aka MATURE) by Seven Seas Entertainment for violence, gore, language, and sex, since they are not censoring any content and aim to produce a faithful translation. Furthermore, contents of these works are not limited to what is listed above, so I suggest using Does The Dog Die and TV Tropes to look into additional content trigger warnings, if needed, prior to starting this series.
I have been impatiently patiently waiting for us to finally make our way back to where My MXTX Journey began with Volume 2 of Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong, The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (SVSSS)!!! ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ
For the past few months after my SVSSS Volume 1 Review, I’ve been itching to read what happens next. So much so that I resorted to purchasing the Kindle version on release day because I just couldn’t take it anymore!!!
Nonetheless, here we are, and I have MANY things to get off my chest. So, let’s go a head and hop into my braincellโs screams, breaking this review into our favorite sections: The Story, Characters, and Memorable Moments.
โ ๏ธIncoming Spoilers; For more info on SVSSS and where to buy, click hereโ ๏ธ
Story
It’s been three years since the devastating events of the Immortal Alliance Conference, which means there are only two years before Shen Qingqiu’s โdeceasedโ disciple, Luo Binghe, rises from the dead to claim his gloriously bloody revenge as the protagonist.
…At least, thatโs how the story is supposed to go…
While investigating a mysterious plague, Shen Qingqiu discovers that he’s fluttered one too many butterflies and may have irreparably altered the plotโBecause guess who’s back and better than ever?!
Thee now darkened White Lotus fallen from grace, Luo Binghe has returned, but a whole TWO YEARS EARLIER!!! And to make matters worse, Shen Qingqiu can no longer predict his returned discipleโs actions in this new timeline.
The only thing that’s unchanging is Luo Bingheโs vigorous fixation on his Shizun, but this obsession may be more than it seems. Not that Shen Qingqiu has the time to plot through all the inconsistencies and connect the dots. With various parties at play in this now ever-changing plot, if Shen Qingqiu doesnโt act fast, he may face a fate far worse than his original death.
Characters
I’ll mainly be talking about Shen Qingqiu (SQQ) and Luo Binghe (LBH) in this section because this volume focused on them a lot more than the other characters just because of what was happening at the time but that doesn’t mean I forgot ๐ญ
So, that’s why I’m going to kick off with our fallen king, Gongyi Xiao
REST. IN. POWER. KING. Y’all I was SO HURT by his death, like I had to close my dam iPad and just sit there in the dark silence.
I won’t lie, I was pointing fingers at LBH when they said he and the water prison peeps got wiped out, but later LBH said he didn’t… *stares* … INNOCENT UNTIL GUILTYโ BUT! WHOEVER DID IS RUDE ASF ๐ญ HE DIDN’T DESERVE THAT
Gongyi Xiao had to be one of the sweetest side characters and he helped out our mans in the water prison when he really didn’t have to ๐ญ Just writing this is making me emotional because I really thought he would be the one to make it out.
Moving on to our White Lotus freshly plucked from hell, Luo Binghe
*give me a moment while I finish barking* You see… I’m the person who uses jokes and laughter to cope with fictional horror… you can’t take me anywhere, I fear.
But we’re not going to sit here and just NOT acknowledge this glow up okay?! The demon realm got something else in their chicken nuggets and juicy juice boxes because HUH??!?!?!
I’ll get a bit more into it in the next section but overall, from appearance to skill, his entire character leveled up and I was here for itttttt๐ญ๐๐ฝ
And I can’t talk about LBH without his biggest stan and the Proud Immortal Demon Way’s most supportive ANTI, Shen Yuan a.k.a. Shen Qingqiu
Cumberbro, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?!?!? SQQ never fails to leave me rolling, but this volume?!?!?! OH. MY. GOODNESS. Now that the storyline has changed, I knew he wouldn’t have as much of an upper hand as before but BOI WAS I IN FOR IT.
This man was constantly on the edge of his life after Dark Mode 2.0 LBH returned, and I was out of breath reading like I was running for my life with him ๐ญ He was really working his thinking cap this volume, but what can I expect from a fellow Virgo ๐๐
Honorable Mention to Liu Qingge because he was so adorable this volume in his brief appearances. I see where people get the SQQ x LQG ship from now ๐ญ He’s been relentlessly fighting to get SQQ’s corpse back and he also took in a disciple after SQQ died like he said ๐ญ๐ฉ Like PLS IMA CRY ๐ญ
Side Note: The English print characters are drawn by Velinxi who I find amazingly talented and blessed that they’re bringing these characters to life with their art!!! You can find and follow them on Instagram and Twitter
Memorable Moments
Saying that this volume had a lot going on is an understatement. I had to pause so many times to collect myself because my emotions and heart rate were running just as high as SQQ’s.
With how the original plot of Proud Immortal Demon Way (PIDW) is described, this new Dark Mode Binghe comeback is probably even worse for the entire cast of characters ๐ Not only is the timeframe of his return put on 1.5x, but he’s stronger, hit the glow-up like a mack truck smacking against a brick wall (see character section), and his personality?!?!
In the new CumberPlotโข๏ธ, LBH effectively pulls the wool over everyone’s eyes and makes himself out to be the trampled white lotus with a heart of gold when in actuality, THIS MAN IS A MENACE!!! He burns with the raging fire of a thousand suns and wears a sh*t eating grin to boot.
Given Cumberbro’s knowledge of the original work, he rightfully squirms under LBH’s gaze and fears for his second life; However, LBH isn’t actively trying to kill SQQ… at least to me lol ๐
The reason why I say this is because not only does LBH say it later himself (when SQQ was already dead lol), but if he really wanted to take out SQQ right there in the Jin Lan streets, he could. And he’d get away with it. At the same time, he is definitely a character that makes me go “boy you play too damn much.”
LBH just seems hurt. Plain and simple. In every sense of the word.
In my opinion, Cumberbro shot himself in the foot by letting his subconscious bias as a whole LBH Stan take root in his actions. I started noticing this in the first volume around the time the OOC lock was lifted and the two became closer. His version of SQQ adds fuel to the emotional fire of this master-disciple connection which probes an internal conflict within LBH.
So, when the Shizun that’s turned a new leaf is so kind to this poor disciple, and becomes someone they oh so admire, literally STABS HIM INTO A DEMONIC ABYSSโ WHAT DID THE CLASS EXPECT?!?!?!
When LBH returns, his affections grow astronomically following SQQ’s self-detonation. And I’ll get back to Cumberbro’s secret plotting leading up to this, but I’m staring directly at the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, because they just threw a whole barrel of gasoline on the little campfire in LBH’s heart for his Shizun. All of the tea on SQQ being “out of his mind with grief” following LBH’s “death” was laid barer than SQQ’s water soaked chest in his prison cell.
Once LBH realized… he could no longer unrealizeโand it’s all downhill from there ๐ฅด
I know that I can’t just throw all the blame on Cumberbro because there are other characters at play and he can’t read the CumberPlotโข๏ธ the way we get too. However, with every page I realize just how much he likes and, in a roundabout way, praises LBH even in the darkest times. Further solidifying my stance on how he is such an unreliable narrator ๐ and the way he does it so unintentionally is that makes it the best part.
Even though he’s petrified of SQQ’s original fate, I’ve honestly never thought Cumberbro ever truly hated LBH to begin with. Prior to transmigrating, his main hangups with PIDW were with Airplanebro’s writing, not LBH’s character. However, by presently only analyzing the other characters around him and plot against the original, like he’s reading rather than living in this current reality, he dampers his ability to develop a deeper understanding of this new plot and LBH by extension.
Don’t get me wrong, I 3000% understand Shen Yuan’s current resistance to LBH’s affections. Not only does he have the original plot of PIDW burned into his memory, making him first and foremost rightfully terrified of LBH, but he’s also very oblivious to the Binghe breadcrumbs that lead up to the events in LBH’s Dream Realm. So I’m not going to sit here and expect him to do a whole 180 on Shen Yuan as a character or even his portrayal of SQQ.
Now, Cumberbro’s plotting?! CUE THE KILL BILL THEME
SQQ’s Uma Thurman Arc
When he came out that dirt in his new mushroom body, all I could see was Uma Thurman and I was HOLLERRINGGGGG ๐ Talk about a long con ๐ and having to re-engineer it on the fly with LBH’s early return?! CumberPlane teamwork made the dream WORK ๐ฅโ๏ธ We love to see it ๐
But what really had me screaming with my head in my hands, is how he turned around and shot himself in the other foot after finally making his escape and falling face first into LBH’s massive chest.
During the 5 years SQQ was marinating his mushroom body, the entire world was in shambles and so was LBH.You may ask why, and that’s because Cumberbro apparently doesn’t know how to breakup like everyone else ๐ฅด
If he wanted to self-detonate, he could’ve done so by just grabbing LBH’s elbows or something, but noooo he had to full on EMBRACE THE MAN AND DIE IN HIS ARMS!?!?!?!? Then has the face to turn around and be surprised when uh ohhh the protagonist is INFATUATED WITH HIS A** AND DOWN THE ABSOLUTE BADDEST ๐ญ
Fast forwarding to the dream realm scenesโ Cumberbro… are you dumb or are you stupid???
Shen Yuan’s over here in Lala land Oo’ing and aw’ing at the wondrous advancements of his bias all while EXPOSED. I was thinking to myself, if this is literally LBH’s dream realm there would be TWO SQQ’s… SIR I NEED YOU TO RUN. NEOW!!!
Side Note: someone give bebe-binghe some kissing lessons because lmfao ๐
I was stressed asf for BOTH times SQQ was in there because I thought LBH was gonna ice ’em flat out. At the same time, SQQ really got me caught up with how he was describing LBH and even started to make me feel sad for him. But soon as LBH pulled that sh*t eating grin after crying woe is me into his Shizun’s neckโ
๐จSYSTEM WARNING: UNRELIABLE NARRATOR ALERT๐จ
Out of the three MXTX lead pairs, this ship, and story at large, has the most hangups for people. But for me reading right now, I barely know what to believe anymore ๐ all I do know, is that Cumberbro needs to DECIDEโ are we scared or not? are we simping or not? are we stanning or not? because this back and forth between his thoughts and actions are churning my braincells into mush ๐ญ
SVSSS is MXTX’s debut work, so not only is it first but its associated fandom has been around the longest. Therefore, of course we know the end game here class. Fanart and fics aside, I’m literally reading a Danmei novel where the BingQiu brick road is so evenly laid without question.
Shen Yuan might thinks he’s slick, but I’m in the Cumberbro seat now, and I can see right through his glass closet freshly wiped down with windex.
From my view point so far: Does SQQ hate LBH and utterly detest him? No. Is he scared sh*tless by his character’s death in the original work via LBH still having a high plausibility? DEFINITELY. EVEN IM SCARED FOR HIS A**!!!
SQQ gets hit with all of this after literally sprouting out the grave less than a week ago, while LBH has had FIVE YEARS of reminiscing and mourning his Shizun like a widower. Ships like this aren’t build THAT fast ๐
The more I look back, its starting to look like BingQiu is heading into their Beauty & The Beast arc, and y’all already know I’ve got volume 3 preordered and ready to go ๐
Thank you for reading my ramblings and joining me on my MXTX journey!!! Always here for the SVSSShenanigans!!!
Being fresh off of Post Volume Depression, I’m in dire need of the second season for SV, and it was supposed to come out this year but we’re already a quarter way through and I’m SKRESSED ๐ญ PLEASE JUST GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANTTTT ๐ฉ
Thanks again and I’ll see you next time!!!๐
To Make A Long Story Short… SQQ mourns LBH’s “death” like a widower, LBH returns from hell and mourns SQQ’s “death” like a widower. Now the entire cast is watching the BingQiu Ship build itself in front of their salad.
This season had my weekly watchlist filled to the brim with shows, but I love it when my cup runneth over.
Funimation/Crunchyroll
It felt like I was watching everything under the sun this season with so many new shows and other’s continuing off of the previous season. So for this month’s post, I decided to take some time to reflect on the ones that truly had me by the neck and wouldn’t let go week after week.
It’s the days following the end of the world where life itself is consumed by the plague known as Rust Wind. No one knows how the Rust began, but one renegade Mushroom Keeper known as Bisco Akaboshi, the Man-Eating Redcap, is determined to end it. Together with the dashing young doctor Milo Nekoyanagi, the two will brave the horrors and wonders of the Iron Desert in search of the Rust-Eater: a mythical mushroom rumored to cure them all.
If I’m being 100% honest… this is the sole reason I decided to create this post ๐ (as if the featured image wasn’t a dead giveaway jskldfjklf)
It has been a WHILE since I was so enamored a show like I was with this one. At first I put it off for a few episodes because I’m not a fan of things growing on things (if that makes sense), but one day I just decided to give it a shot and I’m SO glad I did.
As I write this post before you, I’m fresh off of watching the season finale and Y’ALL… THIS IS WHAT FUJIN DREAMS ARE MADE OF!!!! This is just me, but I need plot and substantial subtext. How are you going to build a ship with no materials??? But Sabikui Bisco??? It felt like I was walking into the love child of a Home Depot and Lowesโ SHIP MATERIAL GALORE ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ
At the same time, the fandom (based on my twitter feed) is so small that I am starved for content like a fish out of water. Like y’all, the show got me reading the original LIGHT NOVELโ AND Y’ALL KNOW I DON’T BE READIN’ ๐ญ๐
Regardless of what you’re into, I think that Sabikui Bisco has a little bit for everybody and that’s what made it so great to me this season.
10/10 took the air out my lungs and sent me down the river with the words of a love song.
Ranking of Kings 23 Eps; Manga Adaptation; Crunchyroll/Funimation
Young Prince Bojji, who can neither hear nor speak, is constantly looked down upon and called “The Useless Prince” by the people of his own kingdom. While Boji may not be physically strong, he is certainly not weak of heart. A chance encounter with an shadow creature named Kage makes him believe that he has found a friend amidst those who only choose to notice his shortcomings. Their unlikely friendship lays the budding foundations of the prince’s journey, one where he intends to conquer his fears and insecurities to become the best king he can be.
This show came out of left field and rocked me six ways to Sunday and I was not emotionally prepared at all.
At first I wasn’t going to add continuations in this post but I had to talk about my lil king Boji. First of all, y’all he is so precious it just makes my heart squeeze ๐ญ and every interaction he has with Kage on their journey is just SO ๐โจ๐๐ญ๐โจ ๐๐ญโจ๐๐ญ๐ (because of course that makes sense ๐๐)
This was one of those “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” situations because the animation style definitely tricked me into thinking I was walking into a low stress environment when I actually opened the 7th gate. However, I wouldn’t change it for the world because it was such a great story reminding me why I love watching anime in the first place.
10/10 cried my eyes out several times until I made the river that I was just sent away on
Demon Slayer: The Entertainment District Arc 11 Eps; Manga Adaptation; Crunchyroll/Funimation
Despite being given time to recover, the devastation of the Mugen Train incident still weighs heavily on the Demon Slayer Corps, but the wicked never sleeps. A vicious demon is terrorizing the alluring women of the Yoshiwara Entertainment District. Tengen Uzui, The Sound Pillar, and his three wives are on the case. However, when he soon loses contact with his spouses, Tengen fears the worst and enlists the help of Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke to infiltrate the district’s most prominent houses and locate the depraved Upper Rank demon.
THE WIVEESSSS~~ THE WIVEEESSSSSS~~ OH MY LANDS! THE WIVES. MISTER B*TCHES AND THE GORLS STOLE MY CHEST CAVITY AND RAN AWAY WITH IT.
Coming fresh off the pain that was the Mugen Train Arc, everyone was just thrust right back into the fray against the new set off ranked demons. I really thought this was about to be the end for certain characters because they had me in the first half not gonna lie.
I know people like to throw around the basic card but hey call me forever 21 because Unfotable know what they were doing up in that studio okay?!
10/10 had my blood pressure rising and on ventilation just to get to the next episode weekly
My Dress Up Darling 12 Eps; Manga Adaptation; Crunchyroll/Funimation
Gojo spends his days perfecting the art of making hina dolls, hoping to eventually reach his grandfather’s level of expertise. While his fellow teenagers busy themselves with pop culture, he goes to great lengths to keep his unique hobby a secret. On the other hand, Marin, an extraordinarily girl whose confidence is a stark contrast to Gojo’s meekness.
One day Marin discovers Gojo’s prowess with a sewing machine by chance and brightly confesses to him about her own hobby: cosplay. Because her sewing skills are pitiable, she decides to enlist his help. As they work together on one cosplay after another, they cannot help but grow closeโeven though their lives are worlds apart.
CloverWorks had bills to pay this season on PERIOD
I’d always wanted to try this manga but when I found out it was going to be done by CloverWorks I pumped my breaks because I knew they were going to cut up, and indeed they did.
I find characters in stories that diligently work at their craft so admirable, and that’s probably why I loved the main character’s so much. Marin pulls the best out of Gojo as he does for her and it is ridiculously adorable.
10/10 need an announcement for season 2 like its O2 green light me upppppp
86 Part 2 12 Eps; Light Novel Adaptation; Crunchyroll/Funimation
The Spearhead Squadron’s disappearance beyond the horizon does little to hide the intensity of the Republic’s endless propaganda. In this continuous war, Lena continues to operate as “Handler One,” the commander of a new 86th faction’s squadron. On the Western Front, Shin and his squad are now in a military base controlled by the Federacy where they grant them full citizenship and freedom.
Despite their new found freedom, Shin and his team feel that their purpose is on the battlefield. Before long, they are once again in the midst of the Legion’s onslaught as a part of the Federacy’s Nordlicht Squadron. But they soon realize that no matter the side, death and pain on the front lines are the only comfort they know.
The anime only’s have finally made it across the battle field to the mountain top that is SHINLENAAAAAAAA
A while back, I mentioned the first part of this show and how wild it was, but y’all this build up??? OH my goodness.
Now I’ve been building ships for a long time, and most of them are never canon. However COMMA, ShinLena was the tension build of a life time. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve watched something where I see a ship and it actually sets sail but y’all this felt like those ships at the amusement parks where they strap you in and do a whole 360 circle.
I’m hoping that the show performs well enough to get a second season because the material is there and A-1 Pictures were in that studio whippin’ their wrists like rent was DUE.
10/10 torch my soul on the battlefield with the legion’s silver roaches and let my ashes flow down the river of my TEARS
๐Honorable mentions for Sasaki & Miyano and Akebi’s Sailor Uniform๐
So, those are my five chokehold shows of the Winter 2022 anime season!!! Yes, it was essentially a way for me to push the Sabikui Bisco Milo agenda because I NEED MORE PEOPLE TO SUFFER WITH ME LIKE THIS IS NOT A DRILL ANYMORE ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ
Thank you so much for reading my ramblings yet again ๐๐ The second volume of Scum Villain is supposed to be out next month so I’ll be back to scream about some Danmei for sure!!! See you next time!!! ๐๐
WELCOME TO THE KAKEGURUI ARC!!! READY FOR A GAMBLE?!
Before I get into it, all Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s (MXTX) works are marked “RATED 17+” (aka MATURE) by Seven Seas Entertainment for violence, gore, language, and sex, since they are not censoring any content and aim to produce a faithful translation. Furthermore, contents of these works are not limited to what is listed above, so I suggest using Does The Dog Die and TV Tropes to look into additional content trigger warnings, if needed, prior to starting this series.
If you have been following my MXTX journey this far, you know that this post brings us to round two as we enter the second volumes of Scum Villain, MDZS, and our featured review, Tian Guan Ci Fu.
I almost thought that I wasn’t going to make it in time for my monthly post, but my copy came in just the amount I needed.
๐๐ฝ And the congregation said “no paths are bound” ๐๐ฝ
After several of late nights and early mornings, I’ve made my way from the back cover to my keyboard. This second volume of Tian Guan Ci Fu (TGCF) had A LOT to unpack as the story moves us past where the donghua‘s first season ended and into uncharted waters. So y’all already know that I have to let my braincell share its screams with the class.
No need to fix what isn’t brokenโ I’ll wrangle my braincell’s ramblings into the same sections as before with The Story, Characters, and Memorable Moments.
โ ๏ธIncoming Spoilers; For more info on TGCF and where to buy, click hereโ ๏ธ
The Story
Xie Lian has confirmed that the bewitchingly sharp San Lang is actually one of the Four Calamities and a supreme ghost despised by all heavenly officials, Hua Cheng!!! Dun Dun Duuuun~~
However, Xie Lian doesn’t see how if 1+1 is 2… and 2+2 is 4… then wtf is this???
The terrors of Hua Cheng’s reputation couldn’t possibly be matched with the charming, clever, and protective San Lang he’s come to know…
*stares into camera 4*
A heavenly official’s sudden distress signal leads Xie Lian into the Ghost City. Between the bustling metropolis filled with all the horrors and delights of the dead, Xie Lian sees none other than the Ghost King himself, Hua Chengโin his true form no lessโfor the first time.
Despite their unprecedented chemistry and care for one another, there are missions to fulfill and secrets to uncover, but Xie Lianโs centuries of troubled history are never far behind.
Characters
Instead of focusing on my biases (per usual), I want to shake it up a bit and talk about some new faces that have been thrown into the mix!
Starting with one of my, now, top heavenly officials, Shi Qingxuan
Y’all already know how much I love side characters, but SQX took me by storm and had me in a chokehold for the entire second volume. Our Lord Wind Master is quite the character with high marks already for being a Bestie Attorneyโข๏ธ We Stan characters that go to COURT and testify for our Crown Prince WITH THEE FACTS.
One of my favorite lines from this volume was, ‘If I was beautiful, then there’s no but! As long as I look good!’ The Wind Master smiled brightly.
EYE-CON-NICK! PERIOD!
Next up is the brazen and utterly chaotic, Qi Rong
Y’all gonna hate me but… I don’t hate Qi Rong (at least right now ๐) It’s embarrassing how much I am livinggg for this character ๐
The way that he is just completely unhinged the entire time, absolutely floors me. But I mean hey, can we really blame a to-the-core Crown Prince Stan???
I would like to end with a shout out to the Heavenly Emperor, Jun Wu
Our big bags bussin’ out the Bentley baddie daddie himself came through for our mans Xie Lian in court and shut the naysayers UP. We love to see it
Memorable Moments
Kicking down the gate with the full force of Xie Lian’s thigh highs to hit the ground running, I’m starting with Shi Qingxuan’s reveal.
Soon as they mentioned a whisk in the court room I knew that it was the wind master that we met during Banyue without even knowing who it was. Context clues class!!! CONTEXT CLUES!!!
By explaining SQX’s backstory, we also find out that, from my understanding, all gods are nonconforming and have the ability to freely change between genders which I happened to think was an interesting note.
In general, I found SQX’s character to be amazing in every way. Especially with how they interact with Xie Lian.
It’s not as noticeable in the donghua as it is in the book, but Xie Lian is truly outcast from the other heavenly officials. Though he doesn’t mind it, his character clearly beams several times brighter when someone shows that they genuinely care, which is exactly what SQX does.
Bless Jun Wu for sending them together on the mission to the Ghost City because all of their interactions were pure gold.
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it againโ I find the OG Xie Lian and the donghua Xie Lian to be WAYYYY different. Aside from his present mode that I define as a klutzy cheeky kicka$$ Heavenly Official with a golden sense of humor and beauty for days, Xie Lian is COOL. The whole second volume really opened some old wounds for our boy, but at the same time we learned so much more about his character and the layers to how he is now.
The one we can attribute this feat of ripping off the past trauma bandaid is the Night-Touring Green Lantern, Qi Rong.
Out of any thing I could’ve guessed, Qi Rong being Xie Lian’s Cousin was NOT even on my list.
Being so close to Xie Lian, he really knows what buttons to hit and how to make them hurt. He’s still a little sh*t if I”m being quite frank, but oh how I enjoy just how much how he rattles the cage ๐
Before the second volume’s end, we get a blast from the past as we venture into TGCF’s Second Arc: The God-Pleasing Crown Prince.
To start, this arc is essentially the expanded version of the ciffnotes that we’ve gotten so far on Xie Lian’s past prior to his ascension. It’s nice to see the ins and outs of what really went down on the day of and after the incident at the Grand Avenue of Divine Might.
We get to see younger versions of not only Xie Lian but Feng Xin and Mu Qing. Their personalities between then and now seem like worlds apart, so I’m interested to learn more behind their stories. Also, the second arc really dives into significance behind our reoccurring little bandaged Honghong-er.
โจCheckpoint 2.0 : SAVED โจThank you for reading my ramblings and continuing with me on my MXTX journey. Always fun to share with the class, especially with a plot as packed as this one!!! ๐ I’ll see you next time with SVSSS Volume 2 !!!๐
To Make A Long Story Short… XL and SQX get sent to handle an SOS from the Ghost City only to find gambling, trauma, and their boyfriends. ROLL THE THROWBACK CAMS ON ACT 2
Bougie Fujoshi 