Summer anime premiere notes
Jul. 11th, 2026 04:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
petrea_mitchell posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
anime_mangaIn The World is Dancing, the setting is beautifully realized, the animation is excellent, and the writing is... serviceable. I'm going to keep watching this for the history lessons and the lovely dance scenes, but it's not going be one of my top picks of the year.
Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia, though, is the complete package. It's another great setting, combined with a unique art style, and it may not get as auteur-y as The World is Dancing but the script is an order of magnitude better. This one will probably be on the list on the best things I've seen this year. (Not on my Hugo ballot, though, since this is straight historical drama, no actual witchcraft.)
Sparks of Tomorrow got picked up by Netflix, which I don't currently subscribe to.
Recommendations from Iwamoto-senpai turns out to be about bishōnen with flower-themed supernatural powers, so already not my thing. Bishōnen who are allegedly in middle school, though the title character looks and acts like he's about 30. Plus the school is run by the military, this is a few years before Japan kicks off WWII in Asia by invading Manchuria, and the writer seems quite enthusiastic about the characters getting into uniform and using their abilities for the greater glory of the increasingly militarized state so nope nope nope nope nope.
Red River is actually in Anatolia, not Mesopotamia, but still, an interesting and unusual setting. It's a question of whether it can become the grand sword-and-sandals epic that the OP promises before I get too annoyed by the heroine who has to repeat every new piece of information back in her internal voice, distracted by the off-brand Vivaldi incidental music, or driven away by the "misdemeanor assault is the first step on the road to true love" school of romance writing. I'll try one more episode.
The Ghost in the Shell is almost a period piece too, being a re-adaptation starting from the beginning of the manga and tearing away the '90s cyberpunk vibe to return it to the look and feel of the 1980s. And it does an excellent job. I'm not sure I ever saw all of the first movie; I only recognized one scene in the remake, but like the new version of that scene much better. It really reminded me a lot of Patlabor, which shouldn't be surprising since they're of a similar vintage.
Other things there were moments that reminded me of that were more surprising: The Italian Job and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.
Saga of Tanya the Evil is still Saga of Tanya the Evil. There's been a movie in the interim, which I should watch since Crunchyroll has it available, but it was easy to pick up the thread again.
Goodbye, Lara is billed as a tribute to the Hans Christian Andersen story, but it steers midway between that and The Little Mermaid in the premiere. The sea witch in particular looks like a Disney villain and borrows Ursula's line about how she's just helping, when she clearly has an ulterior motive. Unlike Ursula, though, she seems genuinely disappointed by how Lara's first try turns out. I think the main thing to worry about is I'll be much more interested in what's going on with her and certain other undersea events which are barely explained than I am in the potential teenage romance that this story is going to focus on.
Dara-san of the Reiwa Era is a comedy about a pair of gender-nonconforming siblings and a newly reawakened half-snake goddess with giant boobs. If you think this is going to be one of those shows which consists of being crass and loud as a substitute for being funny, though, it's about as far from that as possible. The humor is mostly observational and the whole vibe is more like a solitary retiree starting to open up to a couple of neighborhood kids. If this season weren't so full of good stuff I would probably watch more of this.
Also if this season weren't already so full of good stuff, the buzz about Kaiju Girl Caramelise and Grow Up Show would get me to check them out.
Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia, though, is the complete package. It's another great setting, combined with a unique art style, and it may not get as auteur-y as The World is Dancing but the script is an order of magnitude better. This one will probably be on the list on the best things I've seen this year. (Not on my Hugo ballot, though, since this is straight historical drama, no actual witchcraft.)
Sparks of Tomorrow got picked up by Netflix, which I don't currently subscribe to.
Recommendations from Iwamoto-senpai turns out to be about bishōnen with flower-themed supernatural powers, so already not my thing. Bishōnen who are allegedly in middle school, though the title character looks and acts like he's about 30. Plus the school is run by the military, this is a few years before Japan kicks off WWII in Asia by invading Manchuria, and the writer seems quite enthusiastic about the characters getting into uniform and using their abilities for the greater glory of the increasingly militarized state so nope nope nope nope nope.
Red River is actually in Anatolia, not Mesopotamia, but still, an interesting and unusual setting. It's a question of whether it can become the grand sword-and-sandals epic that the OP promises before I get too annoyed by the heroine who has to repeat every new piece of information back in her internal voice, distracted by the off-brand Vivaldi incidental music, or driven away by the "misdemeanor assault is the first step on the road to true love" school of romance writing. I'll try one more episode.
The Ghost in the Shell is almost a period piece too, being a re-adaptation starting from the beginning of the manga and tearing away the '90s cyberpunk vibe to return it to the look and feel of the 1980s. And it does an excellent job. I'm not sure I ever saw all of the first movie; I only recognized one scene in the remake, but like the new version of that scene much better. It really reminded me a lot of Patlabor, which shouldn't be surprising since they're of a similar vintage.
Other things there were moments that reminded me of that were more surprising: The Italian Job and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.
Saga of Tanya the Evil is still Saga of Tanya the Evil. There's been a movie in the interim, which I should watch since Crunchyroll has it available, but it was easy to pick up the thread again.
Goodbye, Lara is billed as a tribute to the Hans Christian Andersen story, but it steers midway between that and The Little Mermaid in the premiere. The sea witch in particular looks like a Disney villain and borrows Ursula's line about how she's just helping, when she clearly has an ulterior motive. Unlike Ursula, though, she seems genuinely disappointed by how Lara's first try turns out. I think the main thing to worry about is I'll be much more interested in what's going on with her and certain other undersea events which are barely explained than I am in the potential teenage romance that this story is going to focus on.
Dara-san of the Reiwa Era is a comedy about a pair of gender-nonconforming siblings and a newly reawakened half-snake goddess with giant boobs. If you think this is going to be one of those shows which consists of being crass and loud as a substitute for being funny, though, it's about as far from that as possible. The humor is mostly observational and the whole vibe is more like a solitary retiree starting to open up to a couple of neighborhood kids. If this season weren't so full of good stuff I would probably watch more of this.
Also if this season weren't already so full of good stuff, the buzz about Kaiju Girl Caramelise and Grow Up Show would get me to check them out.
Reminder and NEW Battle!!
Jul. 11th, 2026 07:06 pmnarnialover7 posting in itsabattlefieldEXTENED FOR A COUPLE DAYS!! :DD
You have now until Monday, July 13th to submit your icons.
You have now until Monday, July 13th to submit your icons.
Monthly Battle : 28 theme is:
VIBRANT COLORS
VIBRANT COLORS
Monthly Battle : 29 theme is:
SUMMER ENERGY
Pallete Battle!! :DD
Go H E R E to sign-up, get info!
You have until Friday, August 28th @ 11:59pm EDT
Go H E R E to sign-up, get info!
You have until Friday, August 28th @ 11:59pm EDT
Monthly Battle : 29
Jul. 11th, 2026 06:48 pmnarnialover7 posting in itsabattlefieldThe theme for this month is:
SUMMER ENGERY
I'm posting the August battle early because the end July is going to get a little busy for me.
I will be house/dog sitting for a week and I'll be starting marching band things soon.
Also, for this battle you're going to have over a month to submit your icons because once August starts, I will be very busy marching band.
I still want to keep battles going but there probably going to last a little longer that's all.
Please be patient with me, thank you! ♥
For this coming month, So, for this battle you are going to be making icons inspired by a color palette.
I chose this pretty pastel palette
*Click on pallete to enlarge picture. *
♦ You can use any fandom or stock images for this battle.
♦ You can make 1- 20 icons for this battle.
♦ To enter, post your icons here in a new comment.
♦ To participant, please comment below. :)
♦ Sign-ups are open the whole battle.
You have until Friday, August 28th @ 11:59pm EDT
thesleepingbeauty / narnialover7 /
Challenge # 509: Unconscious
Jul. 11th, 2026 06:26 pmbadly_knitted posting in drabble_zoneThis week's challenge is:
Unconscious
Reminder of Rules
Entries should be 100, 200, or 300 words exactly, excluding titles and headers.
Please place the body of your entry behind a cut.
Tag with the appropriate Challenge, Fandom, Type, and Ratings tags. If a tag for your fandom doesn't exist, leave a request on the Tag Request post and I'll create the tags you need. You can request as many fandom tags as you want.
You don't need to use the challenge word or phrase in your drabble, though you can if you like.
Each challenge ends when the new challenge is posted, but if you're a few days late that's still fine.
NEW RULE: DOUBLE AND TRIPLE DRABBLES ARE ALSO ACCEPTED ;)
Have fun!
2 or 3 families in a country parish, and then someone murders somebody*
Jul. 11th, 2026 05:01 pmoursinFlitted past me yesterday something about 'village mysteries what is the attraction' and as it appeared to be a podcast DO.NOT.WANT I scrolled right on past, but did think about the question.
Which also resonated with something I saw on somebody's post about a village-set mystery which was that as a mystery it was somewhat subpar and pretty contrived and one got the impression that actually, the author would have been a lot happier writing about the squabbles of village life without actual mayhem.
And what people say about reading certain mysteries/thrillers/series not such much for the detection/puzzle aspect but for the people/communities/whatever that they are happening among.
Maybe there is no market anymore - or perceived to be no market? - for novels of small community shenanigans and hostile feelings over who does the church flowers and problems with incomers and so on and so forth (?decline of the middlebrow, o, come back, Provincial Lady).
So if some new writer rocks up to an agent or editor and Shows Promise, the agent/editor will make encouraging noises but say, could you not have the village schoolmistress Fight Crime?
I also wondered if this afflicts other genres and people who write sff are being besought to Make It Romantasy. (In bygone days when I was writing sf I got as far as Talking To An Editor and they had Requirements, though at least it was not that.)
*As I commented during my Jane Austen binge-read, she is surely the ancestress of the country-house/village murder-mystery. (Why did no-one bop Emma on the bonce? or put poison in Mrs Norris's tea or push her down the stairs?)
Reminders
Jul. 11th, 2026 10:30 amblackemporiummod posting in black_emporiumHello all! We've noticed a few things that show up every year during signups and would like to send out a few gentle reminders.
1) DNWs MUST be in the AO3 signup itself. We know different exchanges have different rules, but this is a way for us to be able to ensure that DNWs are all in the same place for every request. That makes things much easier for creators and mods.
2) You may offer your own OC for use in your signup, but your creator is not obligated use your OC when fulfilling a request. OCs are sometimes very intimidating, and creators are often more comfortable making a different protagonist for the prompt. Please make sure you include likes/etc that will work with other OCs of that background as well, or change your request to something you'd be happy to get even if it is not your OC!
3) CHECK YOUR AO3 EMAIL. That's where mods will usually reach out if there are questions or changes needed to signups.
4) When in doubt, get in contact with a mod. You can do asks through tumblr/dreamwidth, send a modmail to blackemporiumexchange@gmail.com, or DM any of us directly in the BE Discord (click here for an invite). We're here to help.
1) DNWs MUST be in the AO3 signup itself. We know different exchanges have different rules, but this is a way for us to be able to ensure that DNWs are all in the same place for every request. That makes things much easier for creators and mods.
2) You may offer your own OC for use in your signup, but your creator is not obligated use your OC when fulfilling a request. OCs are sometimes very intimidating, and creators are often more comfortable making a different protagonist for the prompt. Please make sure you include likes/etc that will work with other OCs of that background as well, or change your request to something you'd be happy to get even if it is not your OC!
3) CHECK YOUR AO3 EMAIL. That's where mods will usually reach out if there are questions or changes needed to signups.
4) When in doubt, get in contact with a mod. You can do asks through tumblr/dreamwidth, send a modmail to blackemporiumexchange@gmail.com, or DM any of us directly in the BE Discord (click here for an invite). We're here to help.
Weekly Chat
Jul. 11th, 2026 02:19 pmdancing_serpent posting in c_entThe weekly chat posts are intended for just that, chatting among each other. What are you currently watching? Reading? What actor/idol are you currently following? What are you looking forward to? Are you busy writing, creating art? Or did you have no time at all for anything, and are bemoaning that fact?
Whatever it is, talk to us about it here. Tell us what you liked or didn't like, and if you want to talk about spoilery things, please hide them under either of these codes:
or
Whatever it is, talk to us about it here. Tell us what you liked or didn't like, and if you want to talk about spoilery things, please hide them under either of these codes:
or