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OMG YOU LIKE WITCH'S HEART???? What are your thoughts about it?? And your fav ships
yess i do!!!!! — i posted about it a bit on here after finishing wilclu, but i think for thoughts Otherwise you'd have to ask me things in specific... my ult fave ships rn are tia-charlime (thanks to wilclu for adding tiara in the mix because it makes it so unutterably horrifying /pos) & noelashe ^_^ but i like others/conflicting pairings asw!
on the scale of less reze to most reze, where do all the alien stage characters lie? given you believe all of them to be very rezecoded (i agree btw everything about the series is just so… rezepilled)
Can you give us the Crow-certified Denji ships (or CSM ships in general) tier list, in your humble opinion? I love hearing your thoughts and interpretations of pairings/character bonds :3
ooh. tbh long answer warning in advance bur like i said i Ship a little oddly (wrt. what romance frames are meant to accomplish/where they're placed) & when it comes to denji, any Shipping i do with him is predicated on like,, drawing out certain kinds of dynamics from him ,, certain character reflections rather than a negotiation of what's best for him? i'll narrow myself to denji as you mentioned because there are too many characters & character compositions in CSM i find interesting — & since i'm just going over a few characters i'll just para out instead of tierlisting? do note that a lot of my handling of denji's character is through the "romance"/doghood/motherhood that CSM is cast in wrt makima, the parallel "doghood"/brotherhood wrt pochita, & the consequent "sisterhood"/motherhood cast w/ nayuta so i most like dynamics which echo & distort these lines.
this is partly why my fave denji ship is w/ reze, since her editing of the story & her actual engagement with it is crouched upon makima's romance frame (onto the story, if that makes sense). reze inhabits the Love Interest role so curiously, it's really gender... ! ive talked long enough abt drz alr so ill just stop here.
& like — building on this ,, i think my second fave denji ship rn is miriden? i've talked about their interactions & shared beings at length before i think in a retrospring answer as well if you're interested but additionally: it's because he conjures the reze in denreze the most i feel? but a haunted & giddied and illusioned ghost of her, breaking out of the planes of <het romance> into a sort of stinging mesh of envy & want. i don't think he's as <rezecore> as the other ones im comparing him to, in fact i'd honestly find that wrt the elements of reze i find the most compelling individually — i read more of those in yoshida (although inverted to some degrees). but my fave part of reze in her interactions with denji really gets thrown into new forms with miri. similar dogs, similar self blindness, similar offer of Being Saved, & that same projection.
i like asaden the most next overall. their vibes aren't really what i fw on the romantic sense & their interactions with each other are cute but do little for me. rather, i like the sheer amount of parallels between them that construct their horrid little tragicomedy. the fact that theyre wrung into a manner of Romance fascinates me. i've been talking about this particular nature of their relationship ever since the original few date chapters, so the turn the manga took with them always made sense to me...
i do like yoshiden too,, but hmm. i think i really need to Dig into it to make it an actual thing outside just fujoing out over it every now & then. i hope to like it more when more to yoshida is carved out, but right now — i find yoshida interesting in a lot of his interactions outside denji, but i can see a particular potential there (the theatre scene, the "two choices!", the putting him under scene) which are interestingly remniscent of aspects i like wrt both reze & makima's dynamic w/ him. i'm really waiting for the other shoe to drop. i don't think the pairing <being homosexual> is as essential a descriptor as some of the fandom puts it, because i just don't personally find those inklings in yoshida's character outside mere allegory. re: the shoe // paired with my inklings — a revelatory sort of chapter like the ending of p1 with makima or the <i've never been to school either.> reserved for eerie, smiler characters with a complacency in their bones. down that route, i could really like it.
i can't think of any else that you'd want me to answer,, so i'll stop here. can't think of a csm ship w/ denji that i do dislike since i have very few? he's weirdly not the kind of character i throw into New dynamics that he's not already in. oh hmm,, don't like beamji though, because its just so Nothing to me outside beam's worship for CSM. which is lowkey horror when held wrt the csm superimposition onto denji but i rarely see the ship being engaged with in this way.... thank you for the qn anon!!!
I want yuri follows aonos.. she dies for him.
oh. this reminded me that i need to catch up. aono-kun always fucks with my head so ive been taking a bit of a break (stressful time) recently! personally not sure what kind of an end i want to the manga,, mutual ghost-hood is so beautiful but given that the manga starts with yuri trying to die,, it'd be nice if she lived.
thoughts on yoshiden..?
oh hmm! it kind of switches up? yoshida is very much a character down my alley so i was pretty pre-disposed to the ship in a romantic sense when p2 started releasing. there was just,, less to work with at times for me to fully get into (not saying there isn't content, just my type of content) & i do already have a <p2 denji yaoi ship> that i like very very much... plus we get precious little to yoshida's characterisation as a whole. his freakisms are however absolutely delightful;; i liked yoshiden a lot during the one scene w/ the syringe. there was. a lot there and it made me smile. & then ofc the newest chapter had me giggling a ton the yoshiden is marvellously potent & quite weird /pos in it — i liked that very very much. was posting about it/sending DMs to oomfs about it with barely concealed glee. do still need to reason out a few different mutual directions for me to fully pile on the train but i see fujimoto fudanshing out & i understand him.
hi what do you think about aono kun's mother. she interest me a lot i'd love to hear you talk about her. the way she carries herself is also very interesting.
i really like hitomi :) something i esp like about aono-kun is the way all its characters feel so etched out,, the abuse is Normal & therefore no one is a caricature. the backstory chps w/ aono are some of my faves. re: particular thoughts i can't think of any that i haven't mentioned in my liveblog thread or my later posts (wrt the yuri-midori connection) but i must admit i've been lagging a bit & haven't caught up. sorry for responding to this so late btw, things have been a little hectic. thank you for the ask, though!
ruanmei thoughts!!
i love her lots. i don't have anything already written at length wrt her unfortunately so this is going to be just <whatever i'm thinking of> — but i see her as,, frighteningly intelligent, as lonely, as miserable. the bits with her parents in her lore are interesting. because she mentions not being as close to them as her aunt [who got her snacks -> her teacakes, using said cakes in communication; replicating that form of love], & her mother being strict... something about her sadness at their deaths centered around them not keeping their promise with her grandmother, her attempting to bring them back to life for said promise, the grandmother in her character story V mentioned as watching her, ruan mei herself imitating her grandmother (at least i see the way she combines her science w/ her love for opera & music etc very much reiterating her grma more than her parents... the same love for traditional theatre & etc)... her trying to create a form of life around the idea of <love> while neglecting herself... the kind of false motherhood there. it's so compelling. the way she treats her parents' broken "promise" here kind of overlaps with how she approaches the genius society to me, at least? "she is certain that she won't make another mistake. it's because she no longer trusted anyone, so she won't be let down again... and she won't let anyone else down again." the latter half,, is really. ugh.
also vav the newest quest i kind of went feral at the tingyun-mei bit,, the equivalence with tingyun referring to herself as a pawn in THEIR game, & ruan mei's own aspiration towards aeonhood... the lab segment where ruan mei's words are in grey-narrator-text; almost a god to tingyun. i feel like people often say ruan mei doesn't care about emotions, but that's not true? all her research centers it, & if im not wrong (paraphrasing) there's an experiment she does where she says something about a life not being able to sustain itself w/o them... ? plus her own voicelines about scientific rationality where she criticises it. her final attitude towards the catcakes where she sees their value even if she cant share their feelings... and to tingyun, she says "i believe the desire to live was born from nothing to begin with". the futility of emotions centered but also significant & vital to tingyun's "choice" that ruan mei believes she should have. which is so important after having tingyun & her identity being pulled into pieces by phantylia... aaah!! this got long, i'm afraid. thank you for sending this in, i hope this makes sense!
What are your thoughs on Nayuta? Also, you think she's really dead?
nayuta! i like her very very much i think shes the emotional core of part 2. nothing i havent covered in my analysis prior (esp during the arc w/ her thoughts about denji & denji's referral to family) but i love the way she takes & reorients the makima of P1 & her position in denji's life, the dynamics of care-based labour there. re: her death — a bit coloured by my bias & i dislike being predictive so i'd very much prefer she be alive. thematically, i enjoyed the sushi scene at the restaurant but i think it's a very poor way for her character to go out? so i hold onto hope!
Hiii, I'm sorry for bringing this to you here but I saw your tweet about bllk y*oi so I wanted to ask you if you'll ever publish your thoughts on it over twt, like publicly? it's totally okay if you don't btw. It's just that I love reading your meta fics and analysis about csm, you're the Reze Understander for me, and I 100% believe you'll get me when it comes to kiis as narrative foils. ohh my beautiful mirroring characters who are so passionately ingrained with each other…
Anyways, that is what actually got me into them !! And not even as a romantic pairing entirely, bc shipping is something beyond me, truly. But as a very interesting dynamic that takes into account both platonic feelings of rivalry and a little bit of eros–as a treat. But, ofc, I also like them like "lovers". I'm not opposed to it, I just want something more to them...
I also would love to hear your thoughts on kaiser and the many themes that his character encompasses !! For example his perception of the self and thinking of himself as a being with no humanity that screams So Much of Gender Rejection but him wanting to become human to feel loved by studying psychology that ultimately ties into fitting societal standards by becoming either Man or Woman, bc it toys with the perception of kis as genderless (You could even say trans, too…)
Andand another theme that I love about kis’ character and how it contrasts with that of isg's is the ontological security that one possesses and the other lacks, which in turn, I think, it correlates with early neoego-kis' facade of a haughty and smug persona that he used to conceal his true personality behind this fragile mask of his perceived self-worth (or lack of thereof). I said all this in another tweet while talking to someone about fanfiction but, kis, whose internal and textual construction is so deliberately an act of self-narrativization (i.e. comparing himself to his father’s malice and reflecting him onto himself to build his own persona) all while his fundamental essence and drive is that of love, is sososo compelling to me.
And I wish I could say more but I'm pretty stupid, and never know how to explain myself properly, while I believe you could say something more eloquent !! So, I'd die to hear your thoughts on this–on them; if you agree or disagree with the little bits I presented here. That is, if you want to, ofc.
I'm sorry man, I really love kaisagi and I wish I could talk with someone that is fascinated about them both in the same way that I am. And not only about kis’ character but also isg's. I have so many things to say about that little dude, it makes me sick !! How dare Kaneshiro Muneyuki, of all people, to yaoi bait me this hard. I don't even like sports shonen and to top it all off, I don't even do fandoms, so it's just me, Japanese fanartists I rt, and my thoughts. (。•́︿•̀。)
hi anon!! don't apologise teehee it's completely all right to ask.
i'm not sure i'd publish my thoughts publically outside specific asks perhaps because (1) bllk is very much a more trashy interest of mine so a lot of my thoughts chapter to chapter are just condensed hype culture & (2) i myself don't know if i really want to engage w/ the fandom for it T-T. thank you though,, this makes me very happy to hear!! the reason i like kiis so much is exactly because they're such perfect narrative foils!!
just as you said, they're both such good mirrors & idk blue lock very much leans into homoeroticism when it comes to its dynamics so ofc i enjoy the ship very very much. like wayyy before kaiser's backstory dropped i was fixated on that one official art for the longest time - the riches & luxury around kaiser & that dishevelled football at his feet. while isagi's one is pristine... but the mutual idealisation is what got me. for isagi, kaiser is his ideal form that he has to inhabit. for kaiser, at least pre-evolution kaiser, kaiser at the start of NEL, isagi is another rookie he has to crush to maintain his stability.
and on stability -- this is probably a minor detail on kaiser characterisation but it's what makes me really insane. because a lot of his rookie crushing behaviour is kind of,, indulging in that comfortable stasis. he needs that position of the top, and he Likes challenge (recent chs) but he's also deathly afraid of having the ground taken away from below his feet... see the facade, see the way he directs himself ,, even his makeup (his fucking eyeliner tattoo),,, all that displayed ease & hidden discomfort. that desperation with which he reworks his past is really really important to me idk. he's someone intensely avoidant (see: the milk) & i think that pours into all his current reactions so very much. isagi's retaliation reminding him of his dad makes something turn stone cold in my stomach /positive. but by reworking//avoidance -- the appropriation of symbolism. he's so directorpilled. the rose means something new & different and yet you blink and its entirely the same thing. the choking, the malice.
ALSO the kaiser genderisms!!! you're so right anon about the way he both separates himself from & enforces his father onto himself.. all while inscribing onto the neck (location of his father's violence) his mother's rose. him imitating his mother in appearance, while constantly trying to affirm his humanity through his father. & all his reactions & the extra info about him w/ these details drives me insane.
re re. security - covered this with the <stability/stasis> i mentioned in the last before last paragraph, but the contrast btwn isagi & him when it comes to that is so so nice. the facade is such a work of art,, like you said, the "self narrativisation",, the story he makes up. one of miracles... it's very reze, if that makes sense?
and nooo anon i really liked this ask it's beautifully expressed, IMO. thank you so much for sending it in & i hope i had sth of value to say despite this answer being a bit scrappy in form.. !! it is really really crazy that they put a character of this calibre (and yaoi of this calibre) in the hyperbolic football manga but goddd does it get to me. i'm not a sports shonen guy either :/ but gosh do i GAF immeasurably. i really hope it's followed through well...
how do you feel about jinx’s character/progression/general arc and relationships in s2? i’m so nervous to watch it because i’ve been hearing so many things about how she was screwed over so hard 😥
ahh well, i'm afraid i didn't like it very much at all. i know people who did so perhaps don't take me at my word for this (& to others reading this, perhaps click off because i tend to be critical) but a lot of my frustration w/ jinx was alongside the mess that was the way s2 framed silco. this former point is more related to the politics of the show itself; silco's ghost implying he misinterpreted who his "jailors" were & jinx being apologetic to cait about her mom's death, saying she didn't mean to do it which.. Hiss. she wouldn't fucking say that. he wouldn't fucking say that. she hated piltover to her guts, she definitely GAF'd about the conflict, but all that's brushed away. also,, the ekko bits wouldve been cute if it weren't for the way all of s2 takes jinx's mental illness -- thinking of that interview where the writer goes "a version of powder that exists and is whole and complete" or something. it feels genuinely evil a thing to say, at least IMO. also her character just seems?? different? so bleached of what was s1 jinx in a way that doesn't honestly seem like character progression rather just lazily writing her in a way that's easier for the show to handle. which matches up with how her arc concludes, too, which?? i don't know if you've seen spoilers so i'll shy away from mentioning that but safe to say it's just,, poorly written lol. it feels like her character's been pruned of her grief and her rage and the way she reacts to tragedy, and all too hastily for me to read it any other way than character assassination. isha exists purely to make her look good, & there's little proper interrogation about how jinx would actually, feel about having a kid so dependent on her, a character who is steeped in paranoia & is intensely possessive about her relationships. like?? where is that?? where is that character trait? where is all of silco's parenting? all that just neatly vanishes?
like,, the whole thing with her being a jinx, the survivor's guilt & etc that a lot of people really resonated w in her s1 characterisation,, that compelling messiness is just,, chopped away in a horrifying sense. and that does upset me lol because she was one of my ult faves from s1. it's this manic pixie dream girlification for half of it then turned into not very well handled suicidal ideation and. its honestly a mess. the animation carries some parts of it for me, but the delight to her & her dialogues is really absent.
camellya!!!
about the lack of mkm mention, pochita did ate the ear devil which (correct me if i'm wrong) i can only think about that scene where she makes denji feel her ears. And pochita conveniently throw it up before everything. It's look that fjmt is deliberately avoiding her. idk, i may be reading too much into things, but I agree with what you said on twitter (abt ominous kid denji echoing her words, how he never mentions her) and her ghost is so ever present in the story that i'm still cautious about saying that denji overcome his trauma. with fjmt im just bracing myself with the worst lol
yeppp,, echo your thoughts here entirely. i don't think makima is something (event) or someone (person) to be forgotten offscreen. especially because of what we've noticed he's internalised. some people have been saying that he's taken the present iteration of control as glued over the past & idk that just interests me a lot less.. she's definitely deliberately being avoided. i'm excited to see where that goes!
is asa's feelings towards really be simplified as "love" Don't u think it greatly ignores her current suffering and conflict when it's reduced to very simple answers. And how do you think denji sees asa rn. is it... really love, or anything for that matter from denji.
shrug. i'm not sure tbh. "love" is a messy word & i think it opens up more than it reduces. i've used the word myself before when writing about their dynamic but not really in a pointed sense & ive never attempted to qualify it on either end, asa's or denji's because that perception isnt whats important to me, rather the attempt at perception, attempt at Love, if that makes sense? not a positive term, but a Felt term.... it's clumsy, almost miserable. in many ways it's an expression of asa's conflict.
daily denreze drought 💔💔💔 do you know any shows that have denreze-adjacent pairings? 😔 doesn’t even have to be romantic i just want to see more denrezeism
hiii its been so long since this ask oml we got denreze in the manga too 😭😭... but yess sure bear in mind when i think of denreze-esque dynamic im not matching in terms of vibe. some of these comparisons are Made Up By Me which is. obvious. & also bear in mind that none of these come as Recommendations some may be mid and average and even bad. however afaict of rn
- alien stage - make the exorcist fall in love - itsuwari no marigold - pet (miyake ranjou) - lookalike daughter - kasane - talentless nana - kill the villainess - destroy it all and love me in hell - challengers - shihai shoujo kubaru chan
also nothing strikes me immediately on the books front so this list feels incomplete :/. but well!
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