Mini-Review: Japanese Crime Shows

How can I say this? I only like procedurals if and only if they show human nature. Why else Criminal Minds survived but not CSI, Law and Order, or even Bones? They don't even used the correct forensic technology but ridiculous technology that can identify the most minuscule of detail. For a quasi-realistic drama, it doesn't seem to have a hint of realism to that factor. I think the worst part of any procedural is that they show how people are in shock and in grief but no closure. They could at least go back to the people and show how much they are doing later. They could even imply any eventual circumstances. No one can get over a death much less a murder easily.

I have been watching Japanese crime shows in the channel I usually go to. It has a lot of crime drama including Lucky Seven, Iryu Sousa, Partners/Aibou, and so much more. As a warning, I haven't seen all of the crime shows.

Iryu Sousa - For all I like about this show, there are hiccups on the story. I liked how the murderer is someone unrelated because humanity can misunderstand and jump to conclusions. However, the cracks is in the story where the murderer isn't exactly connected well enough almost to the point of disbelief. It made it feel less of a Chevhov's Gunman and more loose and disconnected. I like how the victims aren't a**holes but humans just as much as the murderers. The characters are fine but sometimes I am completely exasperated by the characters' refusal to see other's opinions. For god's sake, learning from all different angles must be perfect way in order to gather information. Better yet, you can see in a whole new different perspective.

Partners - This is everything other Japanese crime shows want to be. It has great characterization, showing humanity at its worst and finest, and great plot. Sure it can go to convoluted  but like Detective Conan, it's still logical and uses proper equipment. It's an intelligent series and make me really care for the characters.

The After-Dinner Mysteries - I really enjoyed this. It's hammy but at the same time not saccharine. It's not convoluted and doesn't really tackle human nature to a huge degree like Partners. It tackled what you could think of in a crime show but how they did it was fun. This is mainly deduction and forensic. Sometimes it's predictable, sometimes not.

Do anyone know any specific yaoi I can see? I mean yaoi/shounenai manga are so obscure I need help to know which are the best ones and the worst ones. I don't want the stupid NSFW intercourse so f**king early in a relationship that started no matter how much you say they have a crush on each other (some months in if the two are implied to have talked to each enough to know their pace!) or even rape. I don't want any of the seme/uke relationship but a reverse relationship.

Pet Peeves And/Or Berserk Buttons

I, like many people, has pet peeves. I just can't stand them even if I did manage to see through the entirety of whatever I'm watching. Again, this is not a list; I am merely subjecting to what people want: hate. Just what is wrong with you people?! How about we get started on this?

Waste of Potential - I do not like potential being wasted. The writers either had to be stupid or blind to not see the potential they can have to make what they're making so great.

Final Fantasy XIII... man, was that a bad game? It has so much potential. Spoony touched some of the aspects and even he had noted the lack of potential there. MarzGurl has a better emphasis and expansion on certain details than he does so I would recommend watching her reviews. Spoony's reviews may be analytic but he focused on certain details and rambled a lot like a commentary.

It could've been a story of nationalism, individual vs a group, mortality, purpose of life, fate, and loss. It could have been taken in a better direction in the hands of a better writer. Everything doesn't flow well and make you think should you care for these characters? With the exception of one who you can actively care about, the rest of the cast felt tacked on and don't know what else to do but talk about what they are meant to do (life's purpose here....except they handle it amateurishly mixing in with the characters just going to places and going to places where these areas would have no impact on them or the gamer).

Nothing was foreshadowed and just came out of nowhere. Nothing was explained and could've been explained to the audience. They expected us, the gamer, to know what's going on already even though they should tell us what is this all about.

Gameplay's horrible, holding your hand like a baby whenever diverted to something you wanted to see;get what they are going for but it didn't work out. Not to mention, you can't immerse yourself in the world. Overhearing conversations doesn't count.

The ending is the worse case of Deus Ex Machina ever.

Still, potential wasted is never a good thing. They got everything they need but refused to do anything with it.

Bad Parenting - This pisses me off a lot. They might be well-meaning but the effect on their children was horrendous. Even in fiction, there are portrayals that depict you should never parent your child. I can like realistic bad parenting but seriously some are just out there for winning an award of worst parenting ever.

For all their bullsh*t, Gendo Ikari or anyone else for that matter didn't help Shinji out of his problems even though they said they'll help him. What they are doing is outright killing the boy. I thought NGE was good even though there are some WTF moments. Just what they are doing is leaving him dwell in his own problems and helping it. Ignoring your child to achieve your own goals make you a horrible parent and guardian. Well-meaning but look at your child for f*ck's sake! He does not know his child at all.

I can give you more examples but it would make this section too long.

Bullies - They are so cliched. I don't usually care for cliches as long as they are executed well. They don't act like real bullies but over-exaggerated caricatures.

We never seen from the sides of bullies. I take in offense of bullying of course since I used to be a victim of bullying.

Bullying is a sensitive issue for me and I hope it can resolve peacefully without the deaths of the victims.

Useless Characters who are there for decorations - They're just there. They don't have any impact to the story or anything at all. Their so-called character development may as well be horrendous and dumb.

Just make some characters impacting or get rid of them completely. That would make it easier on the story.

Rape/Stalking as Love - It's not. It's creepy and disgusting. What they believe is love is actually lust. They don't actually know each other personally. I won't give any examples since one example exemplified what is wrong with it.

Bashing Characters - So you hate a character, good for you. I won't judge you for it. However for the sake of your plot, do resist your hatred. In most bashing fics, the characters are out of character to the point you can't recognize them. I may not like certain characters myself but for the sake of whoever reading would be taking out of the universe, make the characters relatively in-character or respect them.

I even stopped reading multiple potentially good fics because of its bashing; for all they are well-written plots and characterization, the bashing and glorification of certain characters take me out of the world and I avoid it like a plague. It takes me out of the universe and I felt I cannot stand reading more when all they do is show the flaws. Sure, you can show the flaws of the characters but don't overblown it to the point they are irredeemable. These characters are unforgivable in some eyes but if they can earn a second chance (which most bashing fics refused to do so), then it would give a chance.

Show humanity that they are still people with flaws and redeemable traits. That's all I can really ask for in bashing fics.

It also goes hand in hand with Shipping Wars, specifically Die for Your Ship. Holy crap!

Do you really hate that character just because it interferes with the relationship you envisions better?

That's immature and illogical I am sick of seeing how characters I dislike (I may not like them but does not call for some show of humiliation) being thrashed about, victimizing them and glorifying the other person. This argument is over.

Do take in consideration of the reader and who might read it.

Disrespect for Others and Their Opinions - You are allowed to have your freedom of speech but you do not have the right to take away others' right. Such disrespect would cost you respect and sympathy because in your eyes not sharing the same opinion as you is blasphemy.

Don't be ridiculous you are so popular you can control others. You can have your opinion but you have to respect others for their opinion. Just be happy that there are people who share the same opinion as you. You don't have to tell those who don't share the same opinion as you that they suck and need to reconsider their life just because they like something you don't like.

That's cruel and offensive.

Bias Steamroller - I can ignore this in the case of comedy or satirical like That Guy With the Glasses. Hell, at least they say that people like what they like. However, there are just some people who won't allow themselves to be fair even at the face of something they hate. Doug Walker hates the Liar Revealed twists yet he said in several of his reviews that sometimes the movie can either fall flat from the beginning or stand on its own because of the liar revealed twist. Doug even stated in his Cars reviews that he hated the concept behind Cars and he judged the movie based on its merits. Even before his list of Top Ten Movies He Hates but Everyone Loves, he stated that fans like what they like. Yeah, but even he had his limit with fans who are so stupid even after what he said at the beginning of the video.

Even in the face of the most ridiculous yaoi and shounenai, I tried to find the good part to balance out the bad. I always tried to be fair even in the face of negativity. If you go up there in your professional mask, expect it to lose it since there are hints you showed you know nothing of what you are reviewing. Reviewing means to divorce yourself of your personal preferences and hold at something in a rational standpoint. Narrative, characterization, pacing, themes are objective but how we viewed how they are used are subjective.

To have your personal hatred for something take over your consideration for a fair review is just unprofessional. Look at X-Play and their hatred for Nintendo, anime, anything they hate really. I know that licensed games of no matter what adaptation may not always be good but come on! The hatred clouded what's left of integrity and professionalism that show had left, leaving virtually nothing to uphold their status. That Tales of the Abyss revealed just how much they don't know anything and even they admit that.they don't play any game they reviewed.

I was never been a fan of Confused Matthew and I allow his opinion as long as he doesn't lord it over his fans. What I cannot stand is his ignorance if he just researched (and the fact he is just asking to be spoon-fed what element to make a good movie in his own standards so I think his reviews tend to be very narrow and not really fair). He only seen anime movies and that's that. Even Doug Walker who reviewed the English Dub of Sailor Moon and some Studio Ghibli movies said that he didn't exactly knew much about anime either. For god's sake, he loves Wolf's Rain and Cowboy Bebop and Ed's one of his favorite characters of all time. Even in his Power Rangers Turbo review, even he said there are people out there who liked something you considered stupid and we all too have something stupid we like. Doug Walker is always a compassionate reviewer so he's nice always. For something he don't understand, at least he makes it funny in the case of Digimon the Movie.

Letting your bias take over is just the worst thing you could possibly do. Even though Code Geass got some flak from me, I still try to find some good. Hell, even in fucking Guilty Crown, I can even admit there is some good in the pile of nonsense.

However, reviewers can still take a shot at fans...for very good reasons if they see it. See The Amazing Atheist and X-Play for their disrespectful ignorance. Doug and Rob Walker and several others take shot at the most unpleasant portions of the fandom, calling them out on their idiocy but would they intentionally be ignorant. They have to know which area they are ignorant at and should not tackle it to the point their so-called fans are berating them for their ignorance.

In some ways, it's like a take that to the audience and certain portions of the fandom. Really, given all my kindness, there's Fan Dumb out there not willing to take anything the writer wanted.

Taking Away My Choice - Usually I am very apathetic but what I hate anything more is to take away my choice of liking or not liking and forcing me to conform. I don't use the word 'hate' lightly. I can like and dislike things easily but hate is something on a whole new ball-game.

Forcing something popular in my face every single damn time would really not make me like it. That would make me jaded. You could say I was like that towards TS3 and Frozen.

Let me tell this: all those glowing reviews would put up high expectations for me. And I judge these movies by their own merit. While I enjoyed them on a subjective level, objectively they are not the best thing ever. These are not masterpieces no matter how many times I looked at it.

Even till this day, I avoid the Frozen fandom. Whatever enjoyment I got out of the film was vanishing because of the fandom. The publicity helped the movie along to the point it's ridiculous.

Toy Story...I'm neutral somewhat but I am quite vocal that TS3 is not brilliant and its flaws should be emphasized to everyone. I love Toy Story 1 and 2, growing up with them. 3 on the other hand... It's enjoyable and decent but it didn't go the extra mile and repetitive and not to mention loads of characters who are reduced to jokes or one-liners. I could go on about TS3's flaws but it's not the point of this section.

I don't even hate those two movies above. I'm just disappointed with their execution and potential they didn't take.

It's even worse when it comes to that out-of-control shipping fandom Rise of the Tangled Frozen Dragons...add every single animated movie protagonist's movie titles in upcoming years. That's not even an exaggeration: seriously people are already shipping Tip and Hiro! Every single time I try to find a piece that doesn't have to do with that fandom. It's not jackpot. It's Fool's Gold.

When I hate, I really hate. I am mostly neutral so if something forced onto my face...

Every single product has its flaws and one must acknowledge it but please don't say "It's the greatest thing ever! You must like it!" in my face. It can mean something to you but you must acknowledge the flaws.

My Victims in Storytelling

Now I like this guy... It's just I like to torture him

It's somewhat knowledge that when you like someone, you would do something to torture him. Meant that in a good way. Unless you have a thing for tragedy, then yeah...

A few examples:

• Tiger & Bunny made it clear they do like Antonio but they torture him to the point he didn't even have a special episode dedicated to himself.
• Shara Raizel loves Takuya yet in almost all her stories, Takuya is in some way hurt or even outright killed. 
• arandomguy227 has Tai to be a victim in his stories much like I do

Okay so there are lots of Digimon examples but those stories I love to read the most depending on my swing towards a certain work.

Here are my victims:

• Tai Yagami of Digimon
• Conan Edogawa/Shinichi Kudo of Detective Conan
• Kaito Kuroba of Magic Kaito

In fact, if you seen my Memento Mori post previously, Conan Edogawa is a Persona-user in a role equivalent to Ken Amada...in Persona 3 that has a huge emphasis on death.

I did not choose that role because he's a precocious child or the fact he seen death daily. I choose this role because he fit Ken quite well; it's very convenient I was trying to find a child Persona-user and Conan was just the person; not only I could explore him much more better through his Justice Social Link. His Persona is rather different from what is imagined, being such that I heard Conan's Initial Persona would a God of Justice or Death for those who think his characterization revolves on that such idea or that everywhere he goes someone dies. Erm...

There will always be someone out there that has a Persona with the same name but the design will ultimately be different. See Jun Kurosu and Junpei Iori who has the same Persona, Hermes, but their designs and Ultimate Persona will always be different.

Conan may have a mature sense of justice... Still he is lying to his friends and family he made over the years as Conan...and the person who made an impact to these families indirectly is a liar. He's a complete hypocrite and he and his friends are going against that.

He isn't even close to capturing the Black Organization.

Sure he had picked up some clues about Anokata but he still has no idea about their base or anything.

Now imagines he hates the fact death seems to follow him. Imagine death took away friends he grew to love over time like the Detective Boys that he did make sure to protect...and he exposed the factor of death into their lives. Thankfully, not every one of the cases they took had to deal with death.

Still, I can't help but not put away the fact that he's a hypocrite and some family issues. I know Shinichi is mature but how could he feel about his own parents just running off as soon as he hit the age of consent? They were supposed to stay and be good parents...

Heck, I even called Kogoro and Eri better parents than them despite their separation.

I think I can expand about Shinichi's character in another post...

I sort of make a list for some Detective Conan characters and their Arcana. Again, since DC/CC is primarily appeared in my story. Heck, even Ran would appear as a Social Link. and I plan hers to be completed somewhere before October Fourth along with Conan's.

Character - Arcana

Conan Edogawa/Shinichi Kudo - Justice

Ran Mouri - Hanged Man

Ai Haibara/Shiho Miyano - Moon

Hiroshi Agasa - Hierophant

Heiji Hattori - Chariot

Kazuha Toyama - Strength

Kaito Kuroba - Wheel of Fortune

Akako Koizumi - High Priestess

Aoko Nakamori - Strength

Hakuba Saguru - Tower

Wataru Takagi - Hanged Man

Miwako Sato - Lovers

Jodie Starling/Saintemillion - Strength

Shuichi Akai - Hermit

Sera Masumi - Star

Vermouth - Death

It was rather difficult to choose some of these because there are too many characters and I want to choose the cards that best represents the character. These are only like so far I got; I am only doing this for well-developed characters in the universe or at least somewhat developed to a point I can place a Tarot Card on them.

Remember, the cards aren't omnipresent because they represent aspects of our life.

Major Arcana Tarot Cards

Welcome to the Velvet Room.

I love anything related to mysticism and paranormal. Not a huge fan of ghosts or ghost stories but they are interesting enough to spark attention.

Persona is very well-known for its tarot cards, especially its Social Links. It represents the characters and monsters very well. Sure they didn't run with the idea until Persona 3.

So if anyway want to know the accurate meanings of the Tarot Cards, please look below. I would only look at the 22 Major Arcana Cards.

The Fool

Upright: Endless possibilities, Beginnings, energy, force, optimism, overturning status quo by unexpected happenings, important decisions to be made, innocence, naivety, creativity,

Reversed: ill-advised risks, impulsiveness, foolishness, start of something new but never finished, seek changes consistently

The Magician

Upright: self-motivation, initiation, wit, potential, risk-taker, determination, want to achieve something and self-power to do so, have the power to do the first step

Reversed: confusion, hesitation, inability to use talent or potential, giving up easily, poor communication, learning difficulties, lack of energy, corruption due to power, manipulation

The Priestess

Upright: intuition, wisdom, secret knowledge, female mysticism, mystery, common sense, potential that can't be reached

Reversed: lack of above, suppression of femininity, superficial, not what it seems

The Empress

Upright: motherhood, allowing things to flow naturally, security, stability, natural growth

Reversed: difficulties of above mentioned, lack of affection, poverty, smothering, unable to let things flourish on its own, pushing things ahead too much

The Emperor

Upright: control of life, competition, forceful development, authority, responsibility, self-assertion, masculinity, maintaining power over a situation, fatherhood

Reversed: dictator-like, exaggeration of above, loss of power, manipulation, immaturity, weakness

The Hierophant

Upright: wisdom to others, taking what already know and apply to reality or share to others, solution to problem,

Reversed: unwilling to let others teach you, stuck when refused to listen to wisdom, 

The Lovers

Upright: love, passion, bonds, choices, duality, harmony, union, commitment, abstraction, struggle of two paths

Reversed:unwise decision, contradiction, deception, disharmony, indecision, 

The Chariot

Upright: two conflicting energies in harmony to make a goal, triumph over adversity, overcoming life's obstacles, well-deserved victory, self-control, effort, perseverance, working with boundaries of life to build success

Reversed: lack of unity, recklessly running over everything to reach goal, envy, greed, loss of control of life due to personal flaws, imbalance, destruction, warning against ambition/high expectations, old-fashioned habits and traditions not overcome

The Justice

Upright: ideal type of justice, decision based on facts and not on emotions, balance, realism, result of decision important, legality, clarity, fairness, straightforward choice, arbitration, triumph over prejudice and bigotry

Reversed: decisions based on emotions, imbalance, corruption of justice, injustice, inequality and bias, delay, unfairness, complicated negotiations

The Hermit

Upright: caution, discretion, prudence, counsel sought and taken, need for inner resource, planning, assimilation, wise/spiritual mentor, reflection,

Reversed: refusal of counsel, immaturity, isolation, negative resistance of help, suspicions of others, imprudence, bad habits, nonproductive, reliance on one's inadequate resources, 

The Wheel of Fortune

Upright: unpredictability, sudden change that is out of your hand, best to let things flow fluidly, use opportunities when you can control your fate, resistance is wasted if you don't allow things to flow, effortless success, luck, coincidences

Reversed: useless struggle or setback in life, unexpected bad luck, unexpected interruptions, delays, difficulties, 

The Strength

Upright: inner strength, know inner desires and keeping them in check, understanding yourself and use to push forward, inner female empowerment, courage, self-control, control of passion against one's instincts, determination, generosity,

Reversed: not keep desires in check, suppressing too much, power misuse, defeat, lack of willpower, inadequacy, surrender, tyranny, concession, inability to act

The Hanged Man

Upright: devotion to worthwhile cause, temporary suspension of progress, flexibility of mind and willingness to adapt to changes, sacrifice to reap benefits, rebirth, waiting period, transformation

Reversed: lack of commitment, loss, preoccupation with selfishness, drawbacks to preference from status quo, oppression, apathy in pursuit of goals, failure to act to move forward

The Death

Upright: actual death, endings and beginnings, rebirth, transformation, change, end phase has purpose, abrupt change due to past,

Reversed: dragged beyond its 'lifespan', change that's painful, refusal to face change, agonizing changing transitions, inertia, lethargy, mental/physical/emotional exhaustion

The Devil

Upright: money or material wealth, sexuality, lust, obsession, knowledge of one's needs, desires, and wants, security vs creative fulfillment

Reversed: greed, abuse of authority, uncontrolled ambition, emotional blackmail, severe forms of above

The Tower

Upright: disruption, change, sudden violent loss, ruin, disturbance, dramatic upheaval, repercussions of actions, enlightenment, freedom,

Reversed: negativity, restriction of desires, less severe forms of above mentioned, change that rob individual of freedom of expression, changes out of control of individual

The Star

Upright: hope, optimism, enlightenment, something out there good for you but need to look for it, broadening of horizons, promise, inspiration, influence, vigor, confidence, protection

Reversed: dwelling too much on negatives, distraction from above, self-doubt, stubbornness, unwillingness to adapt to changes, lack of trust, obstacles to happiness, inability to express, rigidity of mind

The Moon

Upright: Deception, illusions, anxiety, subconscious, irrationality, uncertainty and fears caused by imagination that sometimes results in personal depression, but in turn strength of turning fears into inspiration. Also signified a fine line of genius and madness. Loss of control of life

Reversed: Giving into fears, confusion, exaggeration of above, insincerity, inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy, escapism of fantasy from reality, inability to tell the truth, despair, desperate need of help

The Temperance

Upright: combination, cooperation, coordination, innovation, diplomacy, maturity, balance of temperament (harmony and balance), ability to adapt to changes

Reversed: imbalance, volatility, poor judgement, fickleness, conflicting interests, stress, restlessness, instability, trying to combine too many/wrong elements at short expense of time

The Sun

Upright: contentment, happiness, success, good health, material happiness, vitality, reward, acclaim, approval, abundance of energy, achievement, joy

Reversed: troubles, diminished of above mentioned, broken, difficulties, failure, hyperactivity, arrogance, vanity, delayed happiness, misjudgment, autism

The Judgment/Aeon

Upright: final call, rebirth, redemption, putting past behind, self-reflection, learning from past mistakes and becoming someone new, absolution, free of negativity, decision and finding the right path, major change that can be controlled, changes, improvement, satisfaction to a period of life, awakening,

Reversed: holding too much to the past and avoiding the path to move forward, stagnation, loss, separation, guilt

The World

Upright:completion, achievement, fulfillment, shift of one journey to the next,

Reversed: setback to accomplishment, lack of closure, frustration, inability to bring to a satisfactory end, lack of trust, hesitation

Character Analysis: Kotetsu T. Kaburagi

Oh, Kotetsu.... So very dignified on that animatronic...

Kotetsu of Tiger & Bunny is a very popular with good reason.

He as said in this character study is "a wonderful man, kind to a fault, breathtakingly courageous, inspiring in his determination, and the very definition of a hero". However, he had his flaws, so subtle, that only the most astute observers can see that the writers intend. I don't mean to insult fans who watch the anime but really it's very subtle. This show has take the "show, don't tell" principle to heart.

I have an account in LiveJournal but used to have a Dreamwidth account. I always wanted a fanfic that analyzes the character of Kotetsu so I made this prompt, using Persona as a base. There are certain fics I can name that can see his darkness that he obviously repressed and certainly never show to his friends who always love him. It's acknowledgement.

People made him a saint so much so I cringe. There is one thing to be a messiah and a paragon of all that is good but he's not perfect. He's human and that's what Tiger & Bunny does best.

How lonely...

Kotetsu, when I see him in-story, doesn't seem to know himself well. He understands others but he refuse to allow people in. It took his brother after much pressure to tell him what's wrong. If even his own family doesn't even know about his problems, how about his friends? Why else did I suggest that prompt in the first place? They don't know either. While his family has a basic idea of his recluse, his friends always seem to put him on a pedestal.

Even though Antonio is aware of his family, he never tried to get Kotetsu or break him out of his shell. Never had we seen anyone trying to break Kotetsu's shell. His friends seem to actually expect him to at least talk to them as he did with Barnaby.

He had self-esteem issues, perhaps moreso than Ivan, because of the time. Back then, NEXTs are prejudiced. If it weren't for the efforts of HeroTV, the NEXTs wouldn't be able to get the recognition. This issue wasn't resolved much. Aside from that considerably, the movie shows he still feels useless in comparison to Golden Ryan (I know the costumes that the Heroes wore are impractical but this!). He may now think he can tell his friends and family the truth but not his own personal issues to an extent.

He's a great actor, always smiling and joyous, tricking friends and family who loved him. He deceives himself to be happy during the ten month time skip after episode 13 to the point he thought he had a power boost. He craved for recognition but never admit to it. He resented Sky High (and the other Heroes possibly) for actually being the hero he wants to be and having the public love them. No matter what he did (buying cards and forcing them onto other heroes' fans, down-to-the-earth), his efforts always fall short. He's unaware or in denial of his own desires that he wanted his friends and family to see to them as he did to theirs.

Nobody really took him seriously, which is what he wanted. He put on that face so people would think less of him thus won't bother with him. His friends seen him as a bumbling but fantastic man who only took the job to save the people.

Upright: Deception, illusions, anxiety, subconscious, irrationality, uncertainty and fears caused by imagination that sometimes results in personal depression, but in turn strength of turning fears into inspiration. Also signified a fine line of genius and madness. Loss of control of life

Reversed: Giving into fears, confusion, exaggeration of above, insincerity, inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy, escapism of fantasy from reality, inability to tell the truth, despair, desperate need of help

They never seen his true self.

It's a deception that Kotetsu took to an extreme degree because of his own personal problems that never resolved. He can smile genuinely sometimes but really I found most of the time it's fake. The writers practically confirmed this that he was on a verge of depression before he had ever met Barnaby. There's no doubt he would follow Legend's footsteps regardless. I toyed with the thought of suicide once or twice for him but the only thing keeping him there was love for his daughter and wife so that's out of the question.

Really, if it wasn't for the fact he loves being a hero, friends and family, he would be a nihilistic character.

None of his friends hardly knew his life or anything truly about him outside of being a Hero. That was made his friends think he's a criminal in the first place when their mind was wiped. It already horrified them enough they thought he was a criminal but it would be bad enough for them to learn Kotetsu's true feelings.

On the previous character study, Kotetsu is his own worst enemy so I just need him to face his Shadow, his true self. It's too good to pass up Kotetsu's Shadow Self as Ebisu. Persona series is such a good use of that since they use Jungian Psychology ("Shadow" and "Persona") so well it meshes perfectly with the urban fantasy and slice of life. It's just a damn good series of games in so many respects.

For those who are curious, I been assigning Tarot Cards to every character that gets developed to the point I can assign it to them. In stories, if they ever appeared, should they be Persona-users or Social Links. It gets me into practice to use the accurate representations of the Arcana when many works got them wrong and I am staying true to their meaning after all.

Character - Arcana

Kotetsu T. Kaburagi/Wild Tiger - The Moon 

Kaede Kaburagi - The Hanged Man 

Barnaby Brooks Jr./Bunny - The Sun 

Keith Goodman/Sky High - The Star

Karina Lyle/Blue Rose - The Lovers

Pao-lin Huang/Dragon Kid - The Chariot

Ivan Karelin/Origami Cyclone - The Strength 

Nathan Seymour/Fire Emblem - The Empress

Antonio Lopez/Rock Bison - The Emperor 

Yuri Petrov/Lunatic - The Justice 

Ryan Goldsmith/Golden Ryan - The Magician 

Edward Keddy - The Temperance 

I chose Kotetsu, Kaede, Barnaby, Pao-lin, Keith, and Yuri's without a problem. I have more trouble with Karina, Nathan, Ivan, and Antonio's (especially Antonio). Karina, I have a selection of the Lovers and the Magician. Nathan, I have the Priestess, the Lovers, or the Empress. Antonio, I have no idea. In the end, I decided that the Empress does certainly fit Nathan more than Lovers (he's comfortable in his own sexuality, choices, and duality while Karina have trouble with the latter two). The Empress represents things to flow naturally and motherhood in a general sense. Barnaby's Tarot Card, I chose for reasons and not because Kotetsu and Barnaby are opposites of each other does warrant the need.

At some point, I thought of choosing the Strength for Antonio but it fits Ivan more. The Temperance didn't seem to fit Ivan. Antonio, because of how little he's developed (to add insult to injury, he doesn't even have a spotlight episode alongside Nathan but even Nathan has more development than him), I have no idea what to choose for. The best I could think of is the Emperor Card. I am still laughing because he's now the opposite of Nathan and the T&B duo is opposite of each other. Both of each has a lot of homoerotic subtext in-show. However, if you have different ideas, you can tell me on the comments below.

Added Ryan and Edward onto the list for the sake of my sanity really. I decided to give the Temperance to Edward; certainly fits his actions in Origami's spotlight episode. It's a given he's going to be a Hero one day by Ivan's side. Ryan, on the other hand, didn't have enough info but I can still make an assumption based on the trailers and his seiyuu's interviews.

I am a Shadow, the true self...

While I can analyze a character, for my own life, I cannot write a fanfic about that. I am such a detailed person that I always checked my stuff beforehand. For writing characters, it's kinda difficult for me since I'm not sometimes sure kept them in-character. It's worse since I have no idea how they are going to react. I am better off writing AU anyway; I can put them in the same universe somehow while switching up some things, using their canon actions as a source to help me with the characterization.

I can make an adventurous story with character development on the side but in a character study in a fanfic, I will go more on explaining the character, telling straight up to the face in concise words. My specialty is more on adventures. I tried romance before and it ended horribly. So I just decided, romance on the side, friendship/family is the most thing on this. No, I am not doing something like One More Day when I even think that Mary Jane should be shot instead of Aunt May.

Anyway, I hope you can see why Kotetsu is such an interesting character to analyze. For all that he is seen to his friends and the audience, he's still human.

Christmas Eve Date! (Christmas is when they spend time with Kaede and the rest of the Heroes) and Christmas Eve does have romantic connotations in Japan...

Oooo, there's one more thing. There's no way in hell am I ever making Tiger the uke to Barnaby's seme or visa versa. Again, there's no such thing; don't be a preteen brat. Real-life relationships aren't like that. I have enough trouble seeing strong male characters wimpified to make the seme look better.

Favorite Show: Avatar: The Last Airbender

This is a damn good show.

Not only there's good humor and creativity, there are good characterization and plot. The characters are very well-developed, giving each character a spotlight especially since we are dealing with kids in time of war. The plot is great as well, having each character impacted by the Fire Nation's doing. They show a sense of maturity in the issues they tackle such as war. The humanity in the show is its greatest point. The emotional yet awesome moments were one of the greatest moments in the series.

It also has a very perfect payoff in the end.

The research is very well-done of the cultures and translation. I fell in love with it partially of its respect. However, this is just the tip of everything that is great about this show.

Doug Walker loves this show to even putting it in his top shows now. It is a much-watch show.

The movie, on the other hand, is a downright failure almost from the start. Everything that is good about A:TLA is sucked out as well including the humanity and maturity in favor of telling the story. I would allow other reviewers especially Nostalgia Critic and TGWTG to say those things for me since there are enough bad reviews to top any masterpiece's good reviews...

Character - Arcana 

Aang - Fool

Katara - Empress

Sokka - Magician

Suki - Priestess

Toph - Strength

Zuko - Judgment

Iroh - Hanged Man

Azula - Tower

Ozai - Emperor

Digimon Adventure 02 Epilogue, a Minor Discussion

sonof4jt$#^%$#W%

This ending was the culmination of the Digimon Adventure 02 and it shows just how much the writers just don't know where to go to the characters.

I only want to defend and argue to a degree.

Perfecto!

Children growing up would not likely have their child fascinations. This shows with a friend of mine who originally wanted to be a pharmacist but now she is striving to be a neurosurgeon. She doesn't care how difficult it would  be. In the series, Cody has the most worthwhile career out of all the new generation of Digidestined. He didn't become a kendo teacher, he became a lawyer signifying his growth throughout the dangling plot.

However, there are futures that they are regardless going into anyway which I don't mind with Kari, Izzy, and Joe (kindergarten teacher, researcher, doctor respectively). No problem there. Instead of having jobs that fit the characters or at least give them average jobs, we have jobs that are so ostentatious it's ludicrous.

Such example would be Davis/Daisuke. I know Davis would just be happy selling noodles with his noodle cart. Having good food is one thing but it's another thing to fit the character. Take for example Genta Umemori from Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. He was made famous for his curry on a certain episode, not his sushi. He's perfectly happy selling sushi even though his sushi is bland and mediocre. He have no regrets after all; he had no plans to be rich or to put on the front page of Time. He wants a five star for his sushi, yes, but this is Genta. He went to France in the end of the series, wanting to explore his cooking sushi more, picking up likely some new cookery on the way.

However, there are some futures that are a slap to the characterization. The bonus material tried to explain them but really it's still a weak explanation.

What.

There are such thing as a phase but Sora grew up as a tomboy. She still doesn't care about her looks much in high school, unlike Mimi. Erm, is tennis a feminine sport? I'm sure it wasn't since I seen in lots of anime and manga that both boys and girls play it. Instead of letting Sora gain interest in flower arranging normally, we see her in fashion design even though that's clearly Mimi's field. Kimono design or no, it's ridiculous. We see her show no interest in fashion even in high school, even though it's clear she's still growing away from her tomboyish habits. In Adventure, she ran away from home because her mom wants her to take after the shop.

How did she become a chef?

Mimi as a chef? Throughout 02, she was seen partying and catching up with the latest fashion. How becoming a chef come to be? It's not as bad as Matt, though. Mimi has a weird sense of taste in Adventure so why not make her a chef? It's like having Orihime becoming a chef in a 5-star restaurant, Grade A through and through.

Oh, the pain~!

Tai, while a good leader as Takuya and Takato, as a politician, is just an oh-my-god-what-the-hell kind of expression. Remember, this is a war he is fighting. It doesn't necessarily extend to politics. Ohgi from Code Geass had shown to be not really a good leader yet he's elected as the new Prime Minister. Good heart but not really good judgment as the rest of the Black Knights. Tai seems best fit in a war zone acting as a Captain or a General if he decided to fight. Throughout the anime, he is shown to have a good grasp on position and others' strength to his advantage. Tai in a suit make me cringe. For a better future, you could say soccer coach or a war leader. Tai seems a bit more idealistic which means no killing whatsoever so soccer coach it is!

Again, what.

Matt... It came out of nowhere. At least Tai (leadership) and Sora (flower arranging) have something. As I said before, adults won't have the same fascination when they are children. But just where is the evidence for this? I got enough evidence for my friend who decided to be a neurosurgeon. Just how can one go to a minor rock star to an astronaut? He's better off as a music teacher or something that fits his character. Also, I highly doubt Matt influenced Sora into becoming a fashion designer; if he loves her, then it's Sora's choice.

This is the level of "Don't Care" Level.

TK as an author. Like most characters in the show, the writers had no idea what to do with him so they left him as a narrator. While TK has some awesome moments in 02, his characterization just doesn't go anywhere, it's just stagnant or just there. Unlike Cody who grew and the only one the writers had any thought for, this character has little to no advancing characterization.

*Facepalm*

Yolei as a housewife... oh boy, is this cringe-worthy? She was the most career-oriented girl in the series and she went on to be a housewife, getting busy with Ken...which is nothing wrong! It just doesn't fit her character; why not let her be a part-timer somewhere or something active outside the kitchen at least! While I would care less about Ken X Yolei/Miyako, there is still no development at all (this comment was to satisfy the shippers).

The series could've been a story of a coming of age story, learning the harshness of reality and knowing things won't come so easily even as Digidestined who gained a name for themselves... You know, now that I think about it, Tai as a persona-user in my story would be a secret hero even from his friends because really even though the Digital World is impossible to exist, Shadows are totally different creatures. Instead, we have Digidestined that doesn't have much development and have more telling than showing futures that are just out-of-character without all the hard work. Yusei Fudo would make a better choice for Minato/Makoto with his serious and quiet demeanor but Yusei takes a step forward representing hope. Anyways, the Persona series has always been depressing acknowledging death and life, multiples characters reacting like humans to their circumstances with the tiny bit of hope left.

*muttering under breath*

Now there is another thing to have a carbon copy kid. It's utterly lazy for one thing...which leads to the infamous part of epilogue, Matt and Sora marrying each other & Kari and TK not marrying each other.

Sora and Matt are to say strangled by each other. The director of Digimon 02 admitted that the pairing was planned since the beginning. Emphasis on friendship or not, just telling certain writers that would just not work. As a result, you got more staff supporting Tai and Sora, heck even the seiyuus said that Taiora is the most plausible couple. And that is just the tip of the creative differences. Just to let you know, the creator of Digimon left the band because he doesn't want a sequel. Like I said before, perhaps something happened to them in the time skip and we are left to decide what happen.

At least Kari has a job that fits her.

I do like TK and Kari together as a coupling but it's not as strong as the Taiora/Sorato fan debate above. So many hints yet it never took any of it. Unlike Guilty Crown in which it took itself seriously to an exasperating degree, this series could still be so serious yet fun at the same time if it learns to balance well. The series had proven itself almost a waste of potential. Ken as the Digimon Emperor was a great twist to the Digidestined creed but soon after Ken turns good, the series just drop in quality. Ups and downs in the plot are so visible you cringe. The epilogue in my opinion was the lowest drop of quality Digimon Adventure can have.

This is my opinion. Everyone's opinion is valued, no matter how much the other desperately want to conform to the general public or just don't care. This is all opinion.

Persona Speculations

I have been writing a lot of Persona posts these days including a story based on Persona 3. Then again, the series had been the most interesting to talk about. Code Geass may have a movie coming (during R2 from what I heard) and a play and Kingdom Hearts has some news but not really enough to discuss since a lot of people can tell what would likely happen anyway (heck even Word of God said this is the last part dealing with Xehanort but not really the end of Kingdom Hearts as a whole), so really not much to talk about.

But I digress.

Naoya Toudou, Tatsuya Suou, Maya Amano, Minato Arisato/Makoto Yuuki/Sakuya Shiomi, Souji Seta/Yu Narukami
from left corner to right corner in zig-zag fashion. 

Persona 5 would very likely feature a new group (I don't really have to guess that the new group would be composed of high school students because of their root to self-discovery and maturity again that the Persona team of Atlus used to their advantage). After all, this story has a different theme. While the summoning Personas is still up in the air (would likely go back to Persona 1 and 2 roots with no Evokers or crushing cards but rather summon by will alone), I still think this new group would come face to face with many other Persona-users later on especially the Investigation Team in their own futures.

I'm not exactly sure if it's going to be like Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger or Digimon Xros Wars: Hunters Leapt Through Time. I mean, it's not exactly an anniversary after all. I don't know its anniversary really because I only learn of its anniversary when it's released. I mean I was aware of anniversaries of Super Sentai after getting used to it after all.

What a nice group picture!

It's very likely dealing with how society repressed certain personalities to be restrained and not allowed to be free. People are chained to what they are supposed to act rather than their true personalities; the repression of the true self rather than the suppression of the true self.

It sounds likely to be a bittersweet ending. I mean society won't really accept certain attitudes or identities because even though it's progressive, there are still obstacles.

Taking yet another psychological route, we could see how this could been done maturely like Persona 4. In my opinion, the ending of normal ending is happy enough. With enough time, the Investigation Team would be comfortable in their future. It won't be as easy as a year. Acknowledging your faults is just a step forward. Hell, it took me more than three years for my walls I built since childhood to fall. I think the walls that these characters in P4 have build their masks in the same way. Despite the fact they gained their ultimate Persona and reached the apex of their character development, I don't think they could just fall into their truer selves.

Again, I digress.

Sho Minazuki might possibly be a character in P5. It's a bit of a stretch but really we haven't seen a Persona or anything other than his fighting skills. For now, we have to see the game release and his story mode.

There might be a possiblity that Zen and Rei of Persona Q are possible characters in P5. Agan, a bit of a stretch but what else can be concluded. We heard nothing much about P5 so I am going guess  no matter how irrational it might be.

Finally Maaya Sakamoto (Aigis) finally dragged her husband into the world of Persona!

*cough*

Persona 5 has a lot of potential for all the teaser had concluded.

I shall try to think of more speculations as more trailers come out for the game. For now, just enjoy the trailer and hope that it would surpass Persona 4 in terms of gameplay and story. I mean the character development of the series is always the best part aside from its brilliant music and plot but those help.

For future Arena games, I am sure certain members from the original games would come. I mean the Night Queen from 1 is Nyx and the Malevolent Entity might be Nyarlathotep from 2. The connection may be weak (as per Word of God) but really I am certain members would come... even though there might be a problem with the amnesia and the whole Tatsuya-and-Maya-meeting-again-would-start-apocalypse-for-the-second-time and let's not forget the Great Seal breaking cause another apocalypse and the incident with Izanami... That's a lot of apocalypses. If Persona 5 has another one going on, I'll just throw my arms up the air exasperated and yell "That world is doomed! What on earth did the world do to these gods to create three apocalypses?!".

The Magicians!

I never realized it but Yosuke's Social Link is the reverse of Junpei's character development. Junpei was jealous of Minato for being better at everything than him (for all I criticized the manga version, at least this was addressed and it's very clear this would be in the movie for his character development) but he learned to accept it and once he lost Chidori, he grew strong, knowing Chidori gives her life for him and he will live. Yosuke on the other hand grew strong for Saki's death until we learn somewhere near the end of his Social Link he was jealous of Souji the entire time. What? Nowhere had it implied that Yosuke was jealous or consider himself boring to Souji, always calling him "Partner" and helping him whenever he could. This fanfic addresses that Yosuke considers himself boring and even though he's girl-crazy, he knew he still had no chance. This takes place around the same time of his character development. Why not during the Magician Rank 2 or 3, Yosuke can say that he was jealous then and the type anybody can look up to and the ones girls would fall for? Yosuke must really be able to hold his jealousy better if he said so until the end. However, it is still not really great path if there are no subtle or blunt hints.

Heh, just felt like saying that.

From above, I mentioned just a bit of Persona Q. There might be a probability that all the games that's going to going soon is going to connected to canon. Knowing Persona, there might be a little Kingdom Hearts or the Tales of going on. Except while KH has made it pretty clear they are connected (KHDDD) and only the Tales characters meet up in noncanon picture dramas or Radiant Mythology, Atlus made cameos and made it clear they are connected albeit with very vague hints. Now let's see the summaries of the games with the exception of Persona 5 and Persona 4: Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold since we all know it's going to have connections to the mothership titles of Persona. I am using the canon names for Souji/Yu for this one and getting whatever they have in Megami Tensei Wikia.

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - The Investigation Team were enjoying the last day of the Cultural Fest until a mysterious clock tower came out of nowhere from an urban legend that if you hear the bell ring from the tower, you'll die.

Meanwhile in Tartarus, SEES were about to train again until they are warped into Yaso High School in 2012 to their shock. Suddenly the school turned into something like Tartarus with only the Investigation Team and SEES are the only ones remaining with two students who lost their memories, Zen and Rei. Realizing that Zen and Rei's memories are the key to solving this mess, SEES and Investigation Team worked together as one.

Persona 4: Dancing All Night - Taking place after Persona 4, Rise Kujikawa returns to showbiz and Yu gone back to the city if the screenshot above has shown. Maybe Yu is working out at Zumba or something. Rumors spread, similar to the Midnight Channel phenomenon, that if you open a site at midnight exactly, a strange video will show and the person watching it would be pulled to the "other side"; aptly named Midnight Stage.

When a fellow singer from Rise's idol group, Kanamin Kitchen or her real name Kanami Mashita, went missing, Rise, based on her experiences with the paranormal, contacted Yu and the Investigation team to help search for the missing idols.

Seriously Yu is even dancing with Izanagi.

While there aren't any confirmations yet for Persona Q to be canon yet, there might be a possibility it's canon. Persona has very vague hints that they are all connected that Word of God confirmed. However, we are talking about spin-offs of a spin-off. Are they canon or not? The closest spin-off to the Persona series is Persona ~Trinity Soul~ and it's not even canon but Persona 4: Arena confirms Akihiko is going to become a police officer anyway.

If Persona Q is canon in some way (both teams lost their memories in exchange for Zen and Rei's and they hope they meet again someday even if they lose their memories), then... yeah... There is no confirmation of Minato's canon name so at this rate I am going to call him P3MC.

So there might be a possibility it could be canon, vague it is.

However, assuming the re-updated release of Persona 3: FES and Persona 4: Golden are canon, then we can take it as that.