Ugh...

Mini-Review: Sing!

I'm primarily an animated movie reviewer so yes, I will go see Illumination, Dreamworks, Laika, and misc studios' movies. Just not Disney and Pixar because unlike the smaller studios, they do have the money to make future movies so I won't even go watch any of their animated movies with the exception of live action...and even then, I try to avoid the shorts.

Sing is basically an American Idol-esque show with a ragtag group of talented singers and performers. The mouse, ringleader of the whole shebang, is trying to save the theater really.

It's a story anyone would hear before. Hell, Glee is one of them to the point they will have villainous antagonists that does horrible things in the name of getting a place at Nationals. There are literally no villains if you count the shutdown plot.

I can't believe I'm saying this but watch Glee instead. It's not that Sing is genuinely bad at storytelling the same level as Glee but if you want a better story of a ragtag of talented singers banding together to have the best performances of their lives, then Glee it is....the first three seasons. People would have varying ideas where Glee started jumping the shark but in my opinion, it's Season 4. There are bad moments and legit bad writing in the first three seasons, I admit that but it felt like they are trying to say something rather than let it rot.

This Illumination film is trying to say something but it got lost in failing development for the characters. The gist of the characterization is there in their establishment shots and potential of interesting plotlines like the gorilla and his dad. Hell, there could've been more development with the entire group. We are meant to see the entire group as a family...and well they are more separate and only connected. Each character has an 'arc' I guess, some not even there or elaborated upon. The lady pig and Scarlet Johannson have something - restrictive lifestyle and the want to be more - but it was not developed. It just comes across as underdeveloped. Something is there but it's not focused enough. Even Glee focused on not only individual development but also group development...although there will be bad writing in both regards. This film, however, seemed to focus on snippets of characterization and there are interactions among the cast...it's just so little. Something is there but not elaborated. Unlike Frozen, however, I think this film is trying to say something but got lost in their vigor for music.

Surprisingly the character I like the most turned out to be Gunter. Everyone else was bland and uninspiring.

As for the singing, I actually do like Scarlett Johannson's, Seth McFarlane's (great voice but an awful creation of shows under his belt although Family Guy before Season 6 was not awful...there are bad moments certainly but in comparison of S6-present...), Tori Kelly's and Taron Egerton's. Reese Witherspoon's was okay as well as Gunter's actor.

The music is, unfortunately, the taste of the creators. Not that the songs that played are bad or anything, it's just that the music doesn't seem to have much importance story-wise beyond performance. I understand they are performers but sing songs that are in-line with their characterization like the songs in the finale. The rest of the movie that has songs doesn't have the same gist. Do the same as Glee's Pilot auditions....do what Season 1 of Glee did with the music, intertwine the music and the plot to get a better depth. There are the tastes of your characters' music and then there are the creators. I'm sure the latter is influencing the latter but please make them their own characters rather than mouthpieces for your taste of music. It's one thing if you are in the music industry but it's another when you are making something that has music integral to the plot.

The movie is harmless for the most part. It's not the worst animated movie of the year or even deserves a Razzie on par with Happy Madison's level of amazing storytelling. It's just average and not really notable.

So for the joy of music lovers, I would give you Susan Boyle's audition for Britain's Got Talent.

And besides, if you actually want to see a good musical, a feel-good one to boot, go see Legally Blonde. It's honestly great to listen to and I consider it a great improvement over the film. Not that the film is bad because I do like the film but I love the musical more the film. The musical is available on Youtube.

PS: I am watching Ace Attorney the anime and Sailor Moon Crystal finally! I did watch the live-action of the former and the latter and love them both. Seriously, the adaptation of Ace Attorney into a live-action movie was one of the best video game adaptations I ever was seen and rarely that ever happen. Look at Assassin's Creed warily. Even the Dead or Alive movie is surprisingly better adapted from the material than expected and that movie just comes out mediocre.

Mini-Review: Yuri!!! on Ice

I want to make this a short review. This would be the equivalent of a vlog, I suppose.

Yes, I will have a say with the dub. No, it's not a bad response like I had with Free! dub. Seriously that dub is hilarious (in a bad way, unfortunately) although the way the script is rewritten is horrible. This dub, while not great, is surprisingly good.

Sports anime have always been one of my favorite anime genres. I can handle a sports movie but a television show of sports is not something I would incline to see. Even martial arts films might be added due to the how strenuous the activities are except I can handle shows of them. I just like sports anime because they are interesting to watch these team or person overcome their issues and become better in a form of sports. It does help that the sports anime make me watch sports I had passing glance.

...People have been arguing about the genre for this. I hate it just as much as I hate the pointless debates the rings and the kiss/hug. There is interpretation and then there is arguing who is right when they are all valid. This is a sports genre alongside with genre-busting. Considering the show have a large josei audience with seinen threads. There are sparses of shoujo and shounen. Please listen to me when I mean that this is not a yaoi/shounenai. I love Venio Tachibana's Seven Days and I will say that it belong in the shounenai genre. YOI does not because it's clear that the romance is a major plot and treated much like any other het romance.

Before anyone can say YOI have unconventional storytelling, I would say that the story follows sports anime conventions...with freshness. For western animation movie counterpart, How to Train Your Dragon. It's a story we heard thousands of times before but it's fresh. It's new from the way the story was presented; it's even handled by Lilo and Stitch directors Chris Sanders and Dean Dubois. Both stories are simple but still well-done with its attention to detail. The writing and direction are simple but grand in execution.

It's not unusual to now have sympathetic human characters as rivals nowadays. Kuroko no Basuke, Free!, Haikyuu!, Oofuri, Daiya no Ace, Baby Steps, I can name so many other sports anime/movies, hell even Pokemon and Yugioh right now all have their sympathetic rivals. They are treated as humans who simply got lost in their own issues and did come out better, treating protagonists and treated their loss gracefully while still having the determination to beat the protagonist or to win next time; it's not a new trope that YOI revolutionized. Get that damn idea out of your head. Seriously, Rei confronted Rin and Kuroko himself challenged all his former teammates to get their love for basketball back just to name a few. Before anyone says that they were butthurt, I will say that their assholish behavior is not condoned in any way in-universe and these characters grew in the end. Each player in YOI has their own motivations and human failings just like Rin, Sousuke, Narumiya, Akashi, Himuro, etc. I really like just how fresh they are written; these rivals are antagonistic but for different reasons. Even Yuuri and Phichit fell into this. Again, it's not unusual to have sympathetic human rivals with their own issues but YOI's skaters are more focused on themselves and obviously knew better than to take out their stress on others...with the exception of Yurio (kid, you really are acting like a brat). Hell, knocking down pegs off of rivals who are arrogant is not an unusual trope; for god's sake Pokemon and Yugioh does this. Do not think for a second that having human rivals are a new thing that YOI revolutionized. It's as if saying that Disney pioneered realism in CGI despite the history. Do not negate others' work beforehand; it just makes you ignorant. Just because one series have proper representation does not mean that other stories are now bad just because they don't represent this, even though they don't have that romance as part of their plot. I could get rid of Wakana's crush on Eijun and it will still make the same story.

...Yes, I said that because I have to worry about those who said that YOI broke grounds and is unique because of treating rivals with sympathetic human traits. I mean have you even see any of the sports anime or characters I just mentioned? Please don't make YOI more unique than it already is. Do not glorify YOI. Do not invalidate previous sports stories that had already done sympathetic human rivals as well as nice rivals in general. I have already seen glorified stuff that left me wanting those to die in a fire, just, please. What I do like is that Kubo is not intentionally making her work the best anime ever and glorifying it. Unlike Jennifer Lee who seems to pat herself on the pat whenever she praises herself, Kubo-sensei isn't making YOI more groundbreaking than it already is and does it with the glee of having her work being enjoyed by others and just let her work be the work that it is. YOI is special, that is true, but do not glorify it by saying things that other sports anime had already done, fans. Just don't.

The story itself is very layered. Just Ep 10, Holy Moly Mother of Man and Woman of the Beginning! There are subtle touches then and there. The music intertwined with the plot that how can you not? The unreliable narrator had always been there right from the start with the actions declaring things to be exaggerated or just wrong. Just look at the details in the background. I wish I can say more but I want to keep this review short. Seriously, it's better to discuss how something doesn't work as something that does work. Just look at my review of Frozen versus my review of Zootopia.

The soundtrack is great. Each song featured in the programs are catchy and could belong to an orchestral piece, opera, hip hop/rap, etc; it does help they bought in songwriters and performers. "Shall We Skate" is such a catchy number on par with Disney musical numbers. Even when I read the summary of The King and the Skater - I totally understand why skaters in-universe chose to use the songs in the movies because well ice-skating is involved! - I think I would enjoy an animated snippet with Phichit as a fanboy.

Speaking of the characters, they are fun and likable. They each have their own flaws that they have to work with; they have to learn what they want as opposed to what others expect them to be or not expect them to be. For Yuuri Katsuki, it was strongly implied and shown by actions that he does have an anxiety disorder and represented well enough. I'm willing to say he also have depression too.

The only sensible narrative sense for Yuuri not to win gold is a season 2. And here we are with a greenlit season 2. I'm going to explain this: Yuuri's story arc will be completed if he wins gold which is the point. Even if he chose to still compete despite his win due to Yurio convincing that there is more to be done, his story arc will still be done. My grievances of the last episode, when the last 11 episodes have been pitch-perfect, is... *sighs* Please be aware that the next paragraph is a wall of text. I don't like to say the word "salty" but rather disappointed because it is a legitimate concern for writing. Just don't brush it off just because we are going to get a second season; it came at a price of bad, sloppy writing. It's legitimate writing criticism.

I do have a problem with the finale - not what you are thinking though because I literally have no problem with the Victuuri pair-skating because it is honestly too beautiful although it's admittedly still too short because the team has to cut for time. It's really glaring to see they changed the ending with the most obvious sign is Yurio's no-show gala performance and it doesn't feel like a fanfare celebration and hell even Yurio's win of the gold and the medal ceremony was just weirdly mute, like really glossed over; show Yurio crying, then cut to them on the podium and then skipped right over to the Victuuri which then obviously became the huge focus. The impact of Yurio's win wasn't there; the narrative was weird. It's not like I didn't want Yurio to win; he won because his SP is unconvincing. It's like the event is just there then suddenly moved to Victuuri, rushing to the most important parts. And even prior to the ice dancing, there are issues with Victuuri: mainly they didn't really discuss their future plans, mainly letting the other do what they wanted and not to mention Victor's condition... wtf, it just becomes less cute once you know Yuuri has severe low self-esteem and anxiety and that he thinks that they would get married only if he won gold which is bad. It's especially bad since Episode 12 was meant to resolve that but it just becomes horrible in the end because Victor and Yuuri suddenly became manipulative and didn't really talk. The only thing I could of is drama for the sake of drama when realistically the two of them really have to be forced down to talk and they didn't really talk as much as they misunderstanding the other; personally though I thought Victor only got back to skating because he thought Yuuri need someone to chase after despite his own happiness and Yuuri's anxiety and self-deprecation is far too loud and decides what others should do rather than let them have a say. The emotional beats of the episodes are now off their notes, shoehorned precisely because a season 2 is now greenlit; we didn't even get more peeks into Yurio's minds about his win other than his face on the podium and his tears. I think the show is trying to draw out time until Yuuri wins gold because Yuuri winning gold is everything. The story has been building up for Yuuri to win gold. It makes no sense otherwise because every other character's story arc doesn't need a gold medal, even Yurio. Yurio beating him by an inch just feel out of place in the emotional buildup in the entire episode, not to mention his stamina issues (the Rostelecom Cup? Where it was mentioned that Yurio has issues with his FS because it demanded a lot? From his coaches? In Episode 9?; Yurio can convince Yuuri to keep competing even with a silver medal); it's just taken me off and doesn't make me suffer or cry for anyone and that is bad considering my reaction to Zero 2 finale; it's a fucking deus ex machina. It just makes me upset and bitter; the emotional buildup, in the end, was abrupt. dropped by an anvil. It's an unpredictable show but there are hints that we will get Yuuri winning gold. That is not unusual because Teen Wolf did the same too with Season 5 being the supposed finale but it was greenlit for a final season so Jeff Davis is working on resolving because well why the fuck did Stiles turn to look at a dying Derek multiple times; who knows when you are going to greenlit or demands of a sequel to commence if it got popular enough. Considering that YOI was only meant to have one season and the demand, the rushed storytelling is all there; there is still good writing in there like JJ's story and PHITCHIT ON ICE. The season finale just felt rushed because they have to accommodate the second season and last-minute additions. Still, the finale is unsatisfying because it is rushed (the pacing which you will hear complaints about), anticlimactic (the important Victuuri talk; there are some parts that are good and hilarious despite how awkward the pacing panned out) and unconvincing characterization in Victor's part (it was enough for me that Victor wanted to retire but didn't seem to be emotionally satisfying for others so Kubo-sensei, do your best writing a complete arc why Victor needs to retire to your Japanese fandom and others who thought it was cheap or not as satisfying. You didn't build up Victor returning to competitive figure skating satisfying for a lot of people including me so please correct your writing next season and hopefully show just how complicated the choice was for Victor because really that all I saw). I am still proud of Yuuri nonetheless for getting a silver and importantly breaking a world record - even though he should have gotten gold precisely because of narrative sense. I'm sorry but it makes no sense for Yuuri not to win gold.

It's not that I hate it; I'm tiptoeing on the fine line of satisfying/unsatisfying. I understand what they have to do. It's really sloppy and I certainly wish they could have done better; like not showing the other competitors in their free skates and only focusing on the important parts. Sure it came at a price of a broken narrative, even more broken scoring (wtf JJ with a bronze!? Otabek makes more sense!), there are still silver linings in little pieces where I can see the original ending's beats and small characterization that pretty much says that Episode 10 is not invalidated. It's wasn't ruined forever for me because I know unfortunately there is much more to be done. It's just that I hope that YOI finally delivers on its promises.

While the cast is human and likable, I do have a problem just how extra the rest of the cast from the Nishigori family to Guang-hong. We do see personality, all personalized which is a big thumb up for me. As long as characters are personalized, then it's a-okay for me; just make them people, play around with stereotypes, make fun of it too; Hetalia does a great job with the stereotypes, playing around with them and making fun of them while the Nation-tans clearly have their own feelings separate from their nation. I just hate repetitions of characterization when you don't do anything with the expies; Glee, Moffat's Doctor Who, Sherlock are one of the few examples I can name off the top of my head. I want to know more about them, see more through their eyes than just POV shots. Now I wouldn't say that they are background characters; the equivalent would be the Social Link system for the lack of a better term. The way these characters are presented is good but not as great as it could be.

The writing can be dubious at times particularly when Episode 10 changed everything. I am working on perspectives here but we never got many elaborations like Yakov and Celestino's comments on Victor coupled with Victor's behavior around them. The writing makes the characters feel incomplete and poorly written. I know the show is well-written but there are some spots where the story doesn't seem to match up or just fell short, particularly in the finale...

Figure-skating wise, it's unrealistic to a certain extent. Twenty-seven Victor gave 4 quads in a single program (I'm super invested in this guy being a skate god; for god's sake, it's implied in episode 10, he got an Olympic medal on his trophy shelf. I mean he been competing since he was sixteen and you think he wouldn't go to the Olympics? That's insane. Even his inspirations, Johnny Weir, Evgeni Plushenko, Yuzuru Hanyu all went to the Olympics so why someone who had been declared the Hero of Russia not goes the Olympics?); in figure-skating, I know he's basically geriatrics in a youthful sport. Look at one of his inspirations, Evgeni Plushenko who retired at 32. Not to mention the scoring system; I don't know if Kubo-sensei is going to leave that up for interpretation (like what she did with the Victuuri Kiss/Hug and Rings) or going to answer. There are a lot of controversy of calculations, the impossibility and improbability of it. We just don't know what is the exact scoring system; is it a modified ISU scoring system or is it a certain year of ISU scoring? Seriously, I don't know much of figure-skating aside from watching the Olympics sections of it.; all I got is the gist of it alongside with names and terms.

Although who can boast they got professionals interested in their work? Blades of Glory and Disney's Ice Princess is what I don't think pros would look for. Not only Oda Nobunari appeared, Stephene Lambiel appeared. Anything is possible now; Johnny Weir and Evgenia Medvedeva could even appear! We got a lookalike of Evgeni Plushenko appearing too although not the actual skater himself. Seriously, who can boast they not only got pros loving their work but wanting to join too even late into the production? Regardless of anime, movies, telly, who can boast about pros making a cameo who want to make an appearance? Pros have to be called in first if they wanted to make a cameo in the work, movies or otherwise. I know there will be Big Name Fans but someone of a profession wanting to make a cameo when the work is far too ahead of the plot and everything?

YOI was not perfect; I will make that clear because really perfection is boring, even Star Wars, which I love a lot, still have their problems. There is Season 2 to go because we need to see Victor's further thoughts on the matter of competitive figure skating, his backstory, and hopefully his complete arc, Yurio's further growth too because he just pulled an Evgenia Medvedeva and now have to defend a title especially since Victor is now in the running again. I didn't get a feel of excitement from Victor about returning; it's almost resigned. I don't feel invigorated about seeing what's to come because the season finale just felt so off in many ways, not just Yurio's win and medal ceremony and Victor's choice to go back. It's lackluster and sloppy from previous episodes and I wish they could have taken it differently. Yes, I will still be tuning into Season 2 because I want all the plot threads still left hanging to be concluded and to see Victuuri get married and to see the characters again with a hopefully conclusive ending. I really want YOI to finally deliver on their promise that yes Yuuri will win gold and Victuuri will get married. Seriously that is the only reason despite the season finale being so poor. Yes, I will still listen to the music because the music is genuinely good...but I don't think I would want to watch episode 12 repeatedly as I would watch the previous 11 episodes. I would only watch episode 12 for analytical reasons, unfortunately.

The dub was not horrendous. It's not as bad as the Free! dub or the Hetalia dub (considering how much I truly hate the latter English dub, that is saying something when I personally dislike the CCS dub with the exception of the Sealed Card English dub). There are moments where the English script deviates from lines of the original but it's very little (it practically translate the lines from the Japanese to English basically, correcting Crunchyroll's subs) and it appeared that Funi learns that this is a story where there is a romance between two men that is a major plot point considering they just make the lines flow smoother than no-homoing it (which is what they did with the Free! dub) and even made their own AMV too. The Russian accents are distracting (ironically, I personally like Micah Solusod's and Caitlin Glass'; Jerry Jewell got better as time goes on which is hilarious he voiced APH Russia considering how much I dislike the annoying accents present in the Hetalia dub; Daman Mills' and Monica Rial's are bearable surprisingly while Dave Trosko's true and tried accent was nonsensical) while Chris' lisp is fine. Josh Grelle as Yuuri Katsuki is so good and deserves all the praises. Minami's English VA doesn't sound great at all and I feel my brain breaking whenever I heard the lady's voice trying to make it sound childish teenager when the Japanese seiyuu, who voiced Hinata Shouyou, did it so much better. It's not a great dub that I would watch over and over again like the FMA 2003 or even 4Kids dub of Pokemon. It's a good for a Funi dub, especially their current dub jobs aren't as great as they used to be.

If I were to rate the entire thing as a standalone, I'll give a C+. Seriously, that wiped out 3 whole levels of points because of how awkwardly, rushed, weird and anticlimactic the finale is and other flaws including LGBT representation. It's not perfect at all and I'm willing to discuss. Who knows how the rest of the series will pan out.

Now time for Arcana practicing!

Yuuri Katsuki - The Chariot

Viktor Nikiforov - The Wheel of Fortune

Yuri Plisetsky - The Justice

Phichit - The Magician 

Yakov - The Hierophant

Otabek - The Hermit

JJ - The Emperor 

Mila - The Strength

Sara - The Priestess

Michele - The Tower

Emil - The Temperance

Georgi - The Lovers

Guang-hong - The Sun

Leo - The Star

Seung-gil - The Hanged Man

Minami - The Star

Yuuko - The Empress

Minako - The Empress

Mari - The Priestess

LGBT Representation

Ah, the LGBT representation. For Japanese queer representation go, it's as good as it can get. If it gets any explicit (the show instead uses actions, subtle but it's still very romantic and considering how context-sensitive the Japanese language is...) or risque, then the show will have to be listed as yaoi or shounen ai. I am sorry but it's true. The fact the show has a normal healthy gay couple, normalized to boot, then that's wonderful. Yaoi perpetuates harmful stereotypes and portrays gay relationships for girls and the occasional boys to get their rocks off. Homoerotic tension in Japanese media is different because, from a western point, queerbaiting is between two men or boys where we know they'll never get together narratively like Dean and Castiel, Merlin and Arthur, Sherlock and John; the Japanese uses homoeroticism to get the audience they want. Free! is, unfortunately, such an example. Hell, even though Tiger and Bunny are progressive in its own right, there's still the ambiguity of Barnaby and Kotetsu's relationship. If there are any queer romances or hinted at, then it's subtext. I am of the opinion that subtext is still a valid reading of the text and should still be read as legitimate. Slash fans are allowed to have their subtext; do not put them down just because you don't see it. Get it out of your damn head about Japanese 'queerbaiting'; do not preach wine and drink water; I already have enough of people saying Japan 'queerbaiting' when they are using faulty cultural values into someone else's culture; DO NOT. Even Doug Walker and Lewis Lovhaug brought up Japanese societal expectations. Even JesuOtaku only concentrates how the story and characters are told rather than Japanese Progressive movement. Yes, I will keep this until people will stop being cultural imperialist, unwitting or not. There is one thing to be progressive but there is another when you are ignoring cultural context. Do not ignore cultural contexts of anything. Even now, I am watching Miraculous Ladybug and I am trying to research as much as France as I can possibly get including whatever lost in translation. Yes, I am that bad about culture. It had become my berserk button.

Normally, I'll say ignore the ranting but do not ignore such an advice. Just don't.

Before anyone can say that Kubo is the first to have a non-homophobic world, I will tell you that she is not the first to do. Jeff Davis in his writing for Teen Wolf made it explicitly clear that there are no homophobes allowed in there and if they are, they are rightfully called out for it. Steven Universe, the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra, hell even include Sailor Moon since nobody is batting an eyelash that beautiful women of stature like Michiru and Haruka are in a relationship; it's not a NEW trope nor did Kubo codified it. It's simply that the fact that Kubo is determined to protect such a world is what makes it admirable. Basically, do not glorify Yuri on Ice, which is already special enough on its own; do not give it credit for something that already been done. I already saw Frozen getting overrated as a result of glorification, which did not sit well with me. Glorification of any kind does not sit well with me at all in any fashion because I know there will be flaws.

Speaking of such non-homophobic world with non-labeling, this is a controversy about labeling and not labeling relationships. This is a can of worms I do not want to open. I am just going to just not analyze but rather just put it here. Of course, a gay couple is completely in love like Victuuri or Young Avengers' Billy/Teddy. Hell, Korrasami is unlabeled. People argued which character is gay/bi/demi/pan/ace on a whole wide of the spectrum, not just in YoI but also Legend of Korra and other works out there that I couldn't think of the moment. People felt that labeling a relationship makes a better impact. Now both arguments are legitimate. I might be implying that YOI is flawed in their representation here because they aren't labeling their characters... So a flaw in YOI, then.

Then again, I am not expecting a perfect representation of all spectrums...and I meant that in Japanese contexts. I am not anti-YoI at all; I do like YOI, it's simply the fact there are flaws when put in narrative perspective and Japanese context. YOI is certainly ambitious but even Kubo will have missteps. Just like this blog, I am willing to discuss positive and negative thoughts on YoI, FMA, Persona, Pokemon, etc.

Now I heard there are LGBT people hating on straight people just for liking YOI... OI, you are no special snowflake just because you are a part of the LGBT community. What the FUCK is wrong with you people?! It's as if saying guys can't enjoy romcoms and my brother enjoys them. Suddenly, I'm a woman who can't enjoy shounen and seinen just because I'm a woman. Get off your damn high horse and let people enjoy regardless of their sexual orientation. Kubo clearly makes her work with love and she clearly wants her work to be enjoyed by people of all spectrum of age, gender, sexual orientation, and all the good stuff.

Speaking of Japanese LGBT, please support them over there. Read up sources and send money for their cause. Read actual Japanese LGBT works by Japanese LGBT like anime, manga, novels, etc. because they do exist. They are simply not mainstream which I think play a part in YOI as a sleeper hit. YOI as a mainstream anime; It's more accessible therefore people will get word faster than manga/light novels/novels. I'm not saying that Kubo isn't an LBGT supporter; she is, judging by the likes and retweets. I think I am treading waters at this point, nearly going to open a can of worms about LGBT supporters' works versus LGBT people's work. I am just going to put it here.

I got into a major rant there... Let's move on to the discussion of the Victuuri relationship.

The relationship is very healthy and clearly shown to be pure love; both men played both the lady and men fluidly yet they are in love immensely with or without the gender roles and I already mentioned this, not fetishized. The couple might be in different pages due to not yet discussing their future plans. I mean I get that conversation because it's the talk of most relationships if those are going to last. I know it because my cousin and her husband had discussed marriage prior to their engagement. I feel they both made choices, knowing they have each other's love; I just don't think they talked enough of what they want, though. The finale made it seem anticlimactic, particularly since we didn't get a gold win for Yuuri. I do like that it's a realistic couple with fights, conversations, and just normality. I'm pretty sure they will still have sickening sweetheart moments but also relationship angst. I just like Victuuri is like my parents and every couple I see in my daily life.

It's so romcom. I have a soft spot for romcoms and shoujo. I mean there is one fanfic I am writing a Final Review for has a shoujo-like story too: Shizuo and Izaya met as kids; Shizuo was interested in the nameless kid but forgotten about it as he got older; the two met again as teenagers and remain fixated; in the end, their relationship becomes better by the end of the story with tad romantic implications although Izaya is the tsundere of the two. Yes, that is how much shoujo I read that I was practically squealing when I read the text.

...Okay, since I don't want to say that this saved 2016 because those horrible things still happened. I won't name them because I think people will know of them either way. I'm sorry; as much as I would like to say it especially since I got the Japanese copy of Persona 5 and doujin, movies, manga/anime with me to cope, I know that this year would still have some seriously horrible turn of events. I love YOI and Persona but I don't think it would save 2016. It simply helped me cope with the situation at hand that there is still hope on the horizon for progressive well-written art and storytelling and well the future. I just to put it out. Yes, I use my fandoms as escapist fiction but really.

Again, please don't glorify YOI. Negating others' work and their storytelling are ignorant. Just because one series is representing the LBGT does not automatically make the others look bad just because they don't have the representation; how about the fact that these stories aren't necessarily about romance and focused on friendship? Their age demographic? Their storytelling? Their own uniqueness? Do not give me crap that YOI is the best of the bunch when you have no idea what you are talking about when I have seen so many anime/manga/Japanese fucking media. There will always be new things coming out and making their own thing; do not glorify something you don't understand from a Japanese standpoint as well as media standpoint. Look at its cultural contexts and do not preach wine and drink water. Do not practice cultural imperialism. Japan is not America in any way. I have to repeat this again because I saw some bad things in the YOI fandom that are just so ignorant and I saw honestly bad criticism of YOI's representation just because it's not explicit enough; for god's sake, I wanted to throw my phone away when I read it because they don't understand Japan at all. Again, it's my berserk button that you are practicing cultural imperialism. I studied Japanese society, history, language, etc in my free time because I am a Japanophile. I am so much of a Japanophile that my cousin even invited me to go with her to Japan. My mother is aware of this even.