RPG’s be like
Reiko kicking ass since forever
Precious little Natsume…!! ;;
In my opinion, the 6th season of Natsume’s Book of Friends is off to a wonderful start!! I just had to draw a quick fanart. The 1st episode has to be one of my favourite episodes in the entire series. The season has such good openings and endings too! AAAAAAAAA
Artwork © 2017 Sloan Natsume Yuujinchou / Natsume’s Book of Friends © Yuki Midorikawa Please don’t use, repost or edit without permission; thanks!
Hinoe and Madara (Lolita Nyanko-sensei) at Katsucon 2017
Quick sketch of my two characters, Dandelion and Chrysanthemum
My friends demanded I draw more of this stuff so HERE U GO.
A year ago I decided to start working on my drawing skills. This is how far I’ve come after one year of drawing almost every day. (believe it or not, that’s the same character in both drawings)
YOUNG VICTOR WITH LONG HAIR DRESSED AS SEPHIROTH
SOMEONE DRAW IT NOW PLS!!!!!
I gotchu (+bonus Yuri because oops my hand slipped)
Golly they animated my favorite chapter in the manga, now it’s in the anime and its better than I could have ever hoped for. I’m ready to gush about Shigeru and Touko Fujiwara now and I’m so excited to do this because they are the absolute best most wonderful people in the world and I’m so glad that Natsume is with them. This isn’t really a post that has any actual meaning to it, either. No speculations or theories, just me gushing about how much I love Shigeru and Touko and how wonderful they are. Spoilers, and a ton of really sappy praise ahead.
Firstly I want to talk about them as a couple, pre-Natsume. They are older, and have lived in the house that Shigeru, and presumably his parents, grew up in, for a very long time. What I adore about them is how much they love each other. They are so close and kind to one another. They tease each other a little bit, as you can see through the series, but past that they’re happy and content and comfortable with one another. And oh gosh they went on that date and it was so cute because Touko wanted to go to the aquarium and Shigeru agreed and it was so perfect and lovely and they were so happy.
Now, as individuals. Shigeru is so kind and gentle. He’s a reserved man, probably doesn’t talk a ton regularly, and I am positive that his best friend is Touko, but he’s so wonderful. He doesn’t make fun of Touko for wanting to go to the aquarium, and they have a lovely time together. He’s so stable and kind and gentle. And when he goes to the funeral, he overhears these adults talking about how they don’t want to take this kid in and how they just want to pass him to someone else, and his first reaction is something that looked a lot like disgust? Honestly, same Shigeru. BUT then he sees this sad kid just sitting alone and dirty and I assume he thinks “How can I help this child be happy and safe?” So his first reaction is to just go home and think about whether or not he and Touko could maybe take the kid into their house. Like he starts cleaning that room, he gets lost in thought. He’s probably thinking “Yeah this could work. Yeah. He could stay here if he wants to. That would be good!”. And he is so understanding of Natsume’s situation too. He hears all this stuff about Natsume being a trouble child, and rather than forget and avoid this little child he’s like “Well then I’m just gonna offer approval, love, gentleness, and genuine affection and let this child relax in this safe and calm environment.”
And Touko, she is an absolute angel. This is the type of woman who is so genuinely sweet and kind. She called to that crow in the middle of the street without caring about what anyone thought of her. She made friends with this crow and was so happy every time she saw it and I’m so happy that it made her happy. And she loves Shigeru so much, and their relationship isn’t strained or stressful because they don’t have children. And nobody ever says anything about them not having kids as a bad thing! She does seem to want children, but she’s never bitter or sad about it, and isn’t mean to any children because of it. She’s so wonderful. One of the biggest scenes I love though is
THIS SCENE. Where Natsume mentions a white crow that she can’t see. Her reaction is surprised at first, but then it doesn’t turn into her saying “Where?” or “What are you talking about?” She realizes that Natsume can see something she can’t here and her reaction is
SHE’S GLAD. She is so wonderful and lovely. She is a beautiful woman who loves this child so much and loves her husband so much and they are the ideal couple. (Also its so cute because when she goes on the trip, she turns to the crow and leaves him in charge of taking care of the house while she’s gone so Honestly? Same, Touko. Same.)
Now to talk about these two as a couple WITH Natsume because that is one of the most precious things ever. Firstly, I think it’s important to know that Shigeru and Touko have only ever been told that Natsume is a troubled child, but they want to take him in anyways. They clean out that room, they buy him furniture. And they don’t even jump to this conclusion right away either. Shigeru thinks long and hard before he even brings it up with Touko, and when she says yes, they spend even more time making sure Natsume is going to have a comfortable place to live. THEN on top of all of this, they fight tooth and nail with his other family to let him come stay with them. They even ask him if he wants to live with them, giving him a choice that no other relatives have ever given him before. On top of that, they don’t force him to become part of their family either. They are so patient with him, and don’t make him into a replacement for their own non-existent children. They understand that they aren’t taking this kid in because they want a child to be happy, or because they are being selfish. They’re only thinking of Natsume and how to make his life better. They aren’t completing their family with Natsume, just giving him the option to join it if he wants to. It’s so refreshing and wonderful.
Also, quick side note. I love how quiet and shy Natsume sounds in this episode before he opens up to them a bit more. Like, usually Natsume talks pretty normal around Shigeru and Touko in most episodes. He’s not afraid to be a bit loud, or excited. But before he opens up to them, he’s very quiet and shy, probably trying his best not to upset him in any way so that they don’t start treating him badly because of it. I fully expect that Natsume had been through quite a few familys where he was treated fine at first, until he began acting out slightly. Then, as soon as his behavior was “bad”, the family members started acting colder or harsher to him so the poor baby expected Shigeru and Touko to do the same BUT THEY DIDN’T!!!
Like, one of my favorite parts of the series is how Touko and Shigeru react to Natsume when he’s in the hospital after he fell off that cliff. The rest of his family is really bitter towards him, saying that he jumped off the cliff so he could hurt them. But Shigeru and Touko? They are so kind and gentle to him. Like, this is a kid who is at risk for growing out of his family. If Shigeru and Touko hadn’t come along, I fully expect Natsume would have been cut out of the family at 18 or whatever age is considered the minimum for adulthood in Japan. He would be forced to get a job, or pay back his relatives in some way for them taking care of him for so long, or just cut out of their lives and forgotten, told as a horror story to make sure their kids value and treasure their parents more. Like, if it wasn’t for Touko and Shigeru, Natsume probably would have ended up hurt worse than he was when he fell of the cliff, or homeless at 18, or worse yet, going with that Yokai who wanted him as a pet. But what do Shigeru and Touko do?
They ask him so calmly if he wants to go live with them where it’s quiet and peaceful, and they are so ready to take him in because they don’t see a troublemaker or freaky kid, they see a lonely, sad boy who hasn’t got the attention and care he needs. They decide that they are able and willing to give him that attention and I love it so much.
okay but can i mention how absolutely amazing it is that in this specific episode Young Viktor is wearing a homage to Johnny Weir, an openly gay skater?
Source: facebook.com
It looks like next week is going to be from chapters 66/67, when they visit the place where Tanuma grew up. I’m excited to see these chapters animated!
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Anonymous asked:
hey!! sorry to bother you, but i was wondering if there are any differences in the main characters' movements in yoi? like, i was watching the op and victor's ending pose, with his palm out and that confident smile, strikes me as very victor. do yuri, victor and yurio move in specific ways that suit their personalities? since you know about figure skating you seem like the right person to ask and i'm just curious
okay so i love this ask and i wanna use it as a jumping off point for something i’ve been wanting to do, which is contextualizing what we’re seeing in yoi with styles of real life skating.
one thing i have been loving about yoi so far is how well the characters fit into the typical styles of the countries they’re representing. i absolutely agree that viktor’s style hinges on confidence. viktor is definitely loosely based on evgeni plushenko, an iconic russian skater who’s known for his quads and balletic style.
to talk about russian and east asian skating, i have to come at it from the perspective of an american who’s very familiar with north american skating. in the US, historically, “feminine” styles of skating for men have been discouraged. the association of figure skating with women & gay men has long been considered detrimental to the sport by the US skating federation. (this attitude is changing, but slowly.) therefore, most prominent US male skaters (and generally canadians too) have been rewarded for a “masculine” style that depends on powerful jumps and simple choreography that’s as far removed as possible from being “pretty”. i’m not gonna post a video bc i hate this style but here is a good example of this type of skater, if you’re curious. any “dance” elements in that program are closer to ballroom dance than anything else, which has an implied female partner.
russia has a different attitude towards gender roles. while gender roles are still strongly enforced in russia, the ideas of “masculine” and “feminine” are very different. ballet and figure skating are both considered masculine in russia, and for men to excel at grace and poise in these arenas is not stigmatized. to be clear, it’s still extremely stigmatized for men to be “feminine,” but dance is not considered feminine. male skaters (and dancers) are also required to be strong and powerful. so you have this sort of hybrid style where artistic skill is rewarded but only insomuch as it is a measure of strength. plushenko’s iconic free skate “tribute to nijnsky” shows this very well (nijisnky being one of the most famous russian ballet dancers). the choreography is beautiful, but it’s based around exhibiting plushenko’s skill and power. he achieves artistry through extremely difficult and well-executed skating. a good example is the step sequence that begins at 2:15.
viktor exhibits this style very well. it’s also very russian of him to have all the most ridiculously difficult jumps.
i can’t speak to gender roles in japan, since i’m not educated on the topic, but i can speak to the tradition of japanese men’s skating. japanese male skaters have a reputation for absolutely stunning artistry. not just yuzuru hanyu, but also skaters like daisuke takahashi, takahiko kozuka, tatsuki machida, nobunari oda, and nowadays shoma uno, have all been known for grace & fluidity of movement that is rarely seen in men’s skating. not just the russian style of power, skill and passion, but an actual beautiful quality to the movement itself. you could watch pretty much any daisuke takahashi program for an example but here’s one:
(as a side note, i chose this video bc it’s a very beautiful example of daisuke’s artistic talent but my actual fave dai program ever is his hip-hop swan lake.) that quality is what viktor is responding to when he says that yuri’s body makes the shape of the music. this style is why japanese men have dominated male skating for years.
this post is already way too long but i’ll say before i end it that yurio’s style is very much the NEW russian way to do things. plushenko was 24 when he won gold at the 2006 olympics. he was a seasoned, experienced skater with a mature style. nowadays russia mostly churns out 16-year-old prodigies with enormous jumps who are considered washed up by the time they’re 18. sadly, the russian federation has a tendency to push its baby skaters very hard until they burn out young, and then move on. yurio reminds me of someone like elena radionova: balletic, flexible, full of energy, and athletically very skilled, but lacking the depth of emotion that comes with maturity. (not a drag on elena, who i love! just a criticism of the russian fed for never letting its skaters grow up & develop.)
so basically the way people skate in yoi is based in real world traditions of skating. they’re all instantly recognizable as products of the real, existent skating cultures in the countries they represent. as a skating fan, it is very satisfying to watch.
Inktober day 31 a redraw of a scene from the end of last weeks episode