The manga lasts about 150 chapters and it's finished. It's set up in a castle, like a high school/college for the elite, there are all types of games, the protagonist is at his 20s. At the beginning there's something like a card game. At the end there's the gambling of his life in which he threatened to be electrocuted.

I would like to find this manga again, since I can't remember its name.
The manga is about a girl who had to pay the debt someone left for her, so she joined a kinda gambling club at school.
There is a scene where the main girl is playing card against another girl, and she realized that her opponent use lipstick to mark the card. So she use perfume to mark hers.
There is also a scene where she asked for the bet to be situated on the top floor. Main girl had to choose between 2 cards, the one not chosen is stapped down by a knife. Before the chosen card was revealed, some steam flew it away.

Hi, I'm new to this subreddit and wanted to know, what's the plot for this anime, like the story of it?? I've seen that's on Netflix but haven't really watched it, but it does get my curiosity, so just wanted to know if y'all could help me out.

Slight spoilers ahead!
The music in the op is so jazzy and sexy and the visuals are incredibly well done and fit the theme perfectly.
The fish in the op are the students at the school and also the fish Kirari’s aquarium, representing the constantly changing hierarchies of society. Usually the fish at the top and the bottom of the food chain/ society are the ones who took the most risk. Some were successful and some were not. Kirari finds it fascinating.
The fruit floating around in the op is the fruit that Adam and Eve ate AKA the risk that is involved with gambling. Adam and Eve were gambling between heaven and hell when they ate the fruit, and the result was that they got to live the rest of their lives where there is constantly a risk. This is how humans still live today. It’s the very essence of life and that’s why Yumeko is obsessed with it. Choosing your own fate, not knowing what’s going to happen (like Ryota did at the end of season 1).
Also, when Adam and Eve ate the fruit they literally made a “deal with the devil” which is the name of the song in the op. The risk was just too seductive.
I could get more into how the genius Adam and Eve theme is and how it ties into Yumeko’s brilliance as a character so perfectly, but I’ll save that for another post.
I will also give mad props to the season 2 ed. Having Yumeko, Mary, and Kirari all walking around in an enchanted forest while Yumeko basically tops everyone was amazing lmao. The music and visuals in that were also stunning.
I liked season 1 a little more than season 2, but I can’t wait for season 3!!!!
I haven’t read the manga so no spoilers please.!!!!!

I just got into the series a few days ago. I'm reading the Twin manga and I'm on episode 4 of the show but I already had some things spoiled in the past by reading through posts on other online communities like /a/. My theory is that Yumeko's family were exiled form the Bami clan either after losing a shit ton of cash or other reasons, so they lost everything. Her parents killed themselves out of shame and a mental breakdown while her sister suffered a similar fate but was hospitalized before she could harm herself. Seeing as she lost absolutely everything and was all alone, Yumeko made a deal with the Devil: In exchange of the money to support her sister and claim revenge against the Bami's, she will spend her days as a sort of collector of Souls for the Demon. She climbs her way back up on the ladder of wealth and influence by using her gambling talents (which have been amplified to an almost supernatural extent by the Devil) and she defeats trashy people with money. She gets the cash, and the Devil gets the person's soul. That's how she manages to get rich enough to get into the school at the beginning. My last theory is that this power is also a curse, as Yumeko has slowly lost her humanity and sympathy for other people, she lost her ability to love. She has been consumed by gambling, and I predict that she will end up defeating the Bami's and getting her sister's bills payed but at the cost of her own sanity. She will end-up where her sister began, because as in all stories, the Devil does not play nice and all deals with him come with a collateral damage. Now, seeing as Mary (who is probably a good but damaged person) lost to Yumeko, her soul is also on the hot spot here and I think that in the end the very first human bonds Yumeko makes in the series (Mary and Suzui) will be the key to saving her.
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I know this probably doesn't make sense at all.

I have recently gotten into anime, and I have been watching a lot. However, being a newcomer into the world of anime, I do not know many animes that I could watch next. Below, I will list the anime I have watched and my review of it. Hopefully, you can get an idea of the animes I like. Thank you!
P.S. When I say "overall amazing," that means I really, really enjoyed every bit of it and all aspects of it (music, animation details, story, etc.)

• One-Punch Man - 10/10 (overall amazing)
• Sword Art Online - 7/10 (A bit too cliche and a few elements of the story didn't make sense to me but otherwise great)
• Attack on Titan - 10/10 (overall amazing)
• Death Note - 10/10 (overall amazing)
• Re:Zero - 8/10 (Some stuff made no sense but other than that, great show)
• Kakegurui - 6/10 (I am in school, so I guess it wasn't completely suited for me as I haven't gambled before nor do I know anything about it, but cool animations, great idea, and cool characters)
• Tokyo Ghoul - 5/10 (Great idea but I feel like there were moments where I had no clue what was going on and I often found myself missing details that, from what I have heard, would have been found only in the manga)
• Pokemon LOL - 9/10 (It was my childhood show. Ig that's pretty self-explanatory)

Final Note: Awesome community. Thanks for such a cool experience.

Lied Shax

Lied is a first year student at Babyls demon school, and has a love of gaming and games of chance. After sending multiple students he was gambling against to the hospital, he was sent to the misfit class alongside the other first year problem students. Originally Lied had little ambition besides playing games and having fun, but after being influenced by Iruma he realized that sticking with his classmates and pulling off the impossible was some of the most fun he could have.
Note: This thread is a composite of the manga and its anime adaptation

Magic

Bloodline Magic: Lied's bloodline magic Controller lets him steal his foe's senses, with the corresponding organs on his body turning black. This is limitted by his mana however

• Stealing
  
  • Steals a demon's sight and smell simultaneously
  • Steals the vision of a giant minotaur (though due to having multiple sets of eyes he's not able to blind it completely. The then steals its hearing (though he struggles with how loud things are) and returns it just before Jazz blows a flute in its ear
  • Steals a girl's taste
  • Steals the hearing of a nearby person to listen in on a conversation
• Tracking
  
  • Tracks down Kerori and Kamui by repeatedly borrowing the hearing of several students, tracking them over a long distance.
  • Tracks down Clara, borrowing the hearing of the person about to attack her
  • By focusing on a game, a book, music, and his power all at once, he maximize his concentration and tracks down Ix extremely quickly, listening to her conversation from a good ways away
  • When he's pushed to his absolute limit, he's able to use a one shot focus to instantly locate Clara within a dense forest.

Other Magic

• Capable of summoning a familiar (though his familiar is featless) A master's control over a familiar is absolute (Anime version)
  
• (Anime Only) Causes a sapling to grow into a unique flower (information on the spell)
  
• Changes his outfit extremely quickly, likely through magic
  
• The guests at Iruma's demonic rites light unholy water on fire
  

Physicals

Strength

• Can support his weight with just his tail which he does to disguise his height
  
• Hurls another demon using just his tail
  
• Along with Iruma carries Bachiko on a chair with some difficulty
  

Speed/Mobility

• (Anime Only) Dodges a ball thrown by Sanbock who could break rock with a ball throw
  
• Avoids attacks from a giant minotaur
  
• Avoids fireballs from Asmodeus, though he is hit in the end
  
• Takes off into the air with his wings, with the wind created by the entire class taking off sending Iruma bumbling (Anime version)
  

Durability

• Everyone is the misfit class before Iruma took at least one hit (Anime version) from a bunch of weapons fired with enough force to stab into the ground/wall (Anime version)
  
• In a room that a massive cherry tree plows through the walls and roof of (Anime version)
  
• Mobbed by several students
  
• Hit by Asmodeus's fireballs (RT for reference)
  

Misc

Combat/Skill

• Sent 6 students he was gambling with to the hospital through unspecified means
  
• Takes down a large ground dragon off screen along with Iruma
  
• Defeats a genie in a challenge of 100 games
  

Other

• Ties up his older sister with a chain
  
• Surprisingly cute in a dress and makes a good idol
  
  • In combination with two others causes a bunch of girls to swoon with a smile
• Has access to detection warding glasses
  
  • These don't work if someone is already aware of the user's presence (Anime version)
• Figures out how to grow the legendary leaf
  
• Currently considered a rank 4 "Daleth" demon. Demons are ranked by their capabilities on a scale of 1 to 10 (Anime version) and students at Babylus are expected to reach rank 4 after 6 years in school
  
  • It's worth noting rank is not based solely based on power and can be raised for a number of reasons. For example characters have their rank raised for doing well on a written test.

I really want to find this manga again. Its genre is Yuri, Comedy, School life I think.
Main girl got sold by her gambling father to a rich person (her long lost twin sister, but they didn't know that yet). She has to go to a girls high school for that person.
The girls high school is a little bit weird. Students are divided into families, they all have their role like father, mother, son... Students will get points for playing their role well.
Main girl is appointed to be the husband of a not-so-popular-family. She got really shock with this school, with her new family and especially her hot new "wife".
And then after that is a bunch of funny story... In the end, their family got really closed, main girl met her twin sister and got helped to pay for her father's dept.
Anyone know this?

Hello everyone, hope you're having a nice day :)
Yesterday I was bored so I was looking up all my past friends/acquaintances on Insta, FB. I was surprised to find out that someone I knew from elementary, Amandla Stenberg, starred in Hunger Games a while back and she's pretty famous now.
Then I looked up someone I knew from high school. She's married now to a music producer and just had her firstborn a month ago. The weird thing is I messaged her a few months back when she posted that she was in the hospital for an emergency regarding her unborn baby and she ended up blocking me. I was also following her then-fiance at the time and he even blocked me as well. My username had my name in it so it was definitely not something like a crazy stranger wanting to stalk you. She even deleted her account so I couldn't find her anymore.
There was one person from high school that I was really close to. She transferred schools and started halfway between the first semester, I noticed that no one really wanted to talk to her. She's super into dark, emo goth stuff and loved to dress in all black, wearing fishnet tights, halter tops, crop tops, leather jackets, etc. I never thought of her in a negative way, I just felt bad for her when she told me right when we were about to graduate that she used to cut herself because of depression, but told me that she was all better. Strangely, I never saw her on graduation day and thought that it was because of her dad, who she really hated and said that he wanted to see her graduate. That weekend her mom called me and wanted to see if I happened to see her on graduation day or after that, and when I denied that she said that my friend had ran away from home to live with her terrible boyfriend. They had no idea where she was or what he even looked like, and called police but nothing really came out of it. Finally after a year and a half I got a text from a random number that claimed to be her, and she was telling me about all the stuff she went through while living with her ex-bf and his family. She wasn't allowed to leave the home, was forced to do chores all day, and even endured domestic violence. She recalled a time when he threw her against the wall so hard she fainted. She was finally able to escape when the boyfriend accidentally left his phone behind while going somewhere, and she quickly texted her mom and siblings to come get her at his home. When he found out she was missing he drove all the way back to her mom's house and had a screaming match with the entire family, who threatened him to never come back or they would call the cops.
Before they were able to rescue her, her mom called me and asked if her daughter had lied to me about her father. I had no idea what she was talking about, and she told me that her father had molested her as a young child, and my friend had just decided to tell her mother this horrible fact the day before she graduated. All this time she had told me that her mother had kicked him out because of severe gambling problems.
Nevertheless I was super glad to hear from her after such a long time. She had no access to her phone, which made sense since all my numerous texts to her were left unanswered. She got a new phone and we made plans to hang out, and we even attended a Christian music festival together. I truly believed that she was going to be at peace with herself and her family.
About a year after, I discovered that she was no longer responding to her texts, and I couldn't get in touch with her mom. I tried finding her on Facebook and she lives 2 hours away now with her new boyfriend. It's funny cause I clearly remember her calling that guy a douche in high school. I'm still confused as to how her mother could let her own daughter leave the house. Her mom is very kind but extremely religious.
But anyways, she's in an open relationship, and as far as I can gauge she's identified herself as bi. And in one of her posts she wrote in large letter's "Let's get intoxicated" and she was dressed up in lingerie-looking clothes. I'm really concerned about her and worried she's going to end up becoming a crackhead. We both knew a girl in high school who dated the same guy that my friend is currently dating, and they had a bitter break up before graduation, and I heard rumors that that person became a heavy drug user and got kicked out of her house. I fear she's going down the wrong path. I tried messaging her but I got no response at all.
I really do miss the old days we had in high school. She was an aspiring manga artist, and the stuff she drew was really good. I still have the letter and drawing she did of us that she gave me the week before graduation.
I can't help but wonder if maybe she secretly harbored hate for me. She would always talk about how her mom would compare her to me. I was smart, did well on all my tests, was a "good Christian" and behaved well. And her daughter apparently in her eyes was the complete opposite, a rebel, procrastinator, and a "bad Christian."
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I also have another friend from a different high school. We had great memories together. We were both loners, and not long after our friendship began we pretty much had started our own huge friend group, where anyone who felt outcasted and lonely could join us and have lunch without having to face bullies. I moved away a couple years later and we still kept in touch, but right when college started we barely talked. Like maybe 2-3 a year. We were both juggling jobs, money, college, and family. She wanted to get a car so she could drive instead of taking the bus for 2 hours back home from university every weekend. We met right before covid in a small cafe. I remember that day I was trying to tell her bits of my life but she kept talking about her dreams to become a kpop marketing manager and couldn't stop talking about her favorite boy groups and who she gushed over. (I don't have anything against kpop)She still considers me her BFF, but unfortunately I don't really see her that way anymore. She's so different now. The conversation that we had, it felt like my words were just going right through her head and she was so focused on everything about herself, what she was thinking, what she liked, what she wanted to be. She used to be an avid listener, was compassionate and understanding.
It really sucks how people around me always talk about meeting up with their high school/college friends for a chat/hangout. I don't really have a bestie that has stuck with me through all these years so I can't really relate to it. A lot of my high school/college friends were fake. They only wanted to be with me cause I was the "popular" and "smart" one. Right when I left those places not a single one of them even tried to get in touch with me, and not even now, 7 years later. The ones that I really felt a connection with just seem to do a complete 360 and go totally haywire.
Honestly the only best friends I have are my siblings. I have a boyfriend and love him dearly, but he has high functioning autism so it's really difficult to get personal with him, all he ever wants to do is play games, watch movies but never actually have a personal conversation. Even if we do he always gives off a sarcastic, condescending tone, and always babies me. So it's really hard for me to even get through to him, not even his brother has a close relationship with him.
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If you're in the same boat as me I'd love to hear about friendships you had in HS/college years and if you're still in touch with them. I can't help but feel like there's something I'm missing in regards to having the best friendships of your life.

[SOLVED] | JISHOU F-RANK NO ONIISAMA GA GAME DE HYOUKA SARERU GAKUEN NO CHOUTEN NI KUNRIN SURU SOU DESU YO? | This manga was about a school based on gambling and you could gamble anything. The main lead was a dude and he just wanted to hide his abilities when he transferred. His sister is up in the ranks. But along the way the dude fights for others people human rights. I think what I read is a manga. Could possiblely be an anime though. Excuse my grammar please.

Re-joining the AA community this year has been a...fascinating experience, if just because it made me realize a lot of my preconceptions on why I fell out of favour with AA. I thought I was dismissing them on part of them being disposable, and me losing favour of them was me maturing. Then I played Investigations 2, and utterly loved it from start to finish. And that was because it wasn't disposable in any way, it actually added up to a very meaningful and impactful story, with lines which stuck in my head long after reading.
Playing it and DGS were fascinating experiments, because they challenged my preconceptions. So, because of that, I ended up looking back at AA5 and 6...
...and realized exactly what caused me to really fall out of favour with the franchise all those years back.
I think there's a lot that be said about both games and their failings, but if there's something really stick out to me, it's how they present their stories and the tone therein.
The first four mainline games, as well as Investigations and DGS duologies, have a very specific tone which is important to consider. While far from being "realistic", they are games which feel nonetheless grounded in their own reality through the people and scenarios that inhabit them, no matter how wacky and outlandish the base concepts tend to be. This is important because, at their core, AA games are built around people committing crimes. They commit crimes, and the heroes are forced to unravel the truth in order to expose those crimes.
Take, for instance, Recipe for Turnabout. The case is overtly one of the most comedic of the entire series. The setting of the case is a restaurant with crappy food run by an okama, the main witness is a perverted geezer who goes there because he likes the waitress outfit, leading to Maya and then Mia dressing up in it for him, the main villain looks almost exactly like Phoenix but as a yakuza, and the case in general is meant to act as spotlight of sorts for resident comic relief Gumshoe. Seems like a gag case...
...Then you remember that literally all the important characters aside from Maggy are criminals. The restaurant is a scam run by an ex-con willing to commit theft to stay afloat, the villain is a two-bit loan shark who committed the murder to pay off his own debts to the yakuza after he injured the family daughter in a hit and run, the daughter herself is a willing accomplice out of a twisted love for said villain despite being aware it's a lie, and the victim was a gambling addict who even designed a dangerous computer virus to pay off his debts.
I think this is the basis from which a lot of AA is built. The characters you encounter aren't necessarily good or bad people, many have their own individual reasons to lie or do what they do, but all that matters is protecting the innocent, and finding the truth. Even if some situations can get pretty...comical, they never really betray that idea that these are real people. Which, when you look at it from the perspective of a mystery, is quite essential.
Which is what I think the fundamental creative problem of the 3DS games, which is how they betray that very tone.
The most direct thing that I think demonstrates this is the "personality shifts". In the 3DS games, shortly after the player begins the confrontation with the culprit, the culprit, with few exceptions, undergoes a drastic personality shift that sees them suddenly devolve into a crazed villain hammily declaring themselves the smartest person in the room. This kinda works in the few cases where the villain is truly dropping a façade (Retinz is the best example, and goes with how popular a villain he is), but most of the time the change does nothing for the villain. What, exactly, is gained by Means suddenly turning into a spartan disciplinarian loudly throwing chalk at everyone, or Nichody acting like a crazed mad scientist simply because he used to be a surgeon? Nothing, over than devaluing the characters as people....Which is another thing.
A lot can be said about how the 3DS games handling of their characters, but one thing which stands out to me is that, unless they're the culprit, none of the characters seem allowed to have done anything wrong, or at least get those actions brazenly dismissed by a "They're not so bad". Betty, for example, is presented as a vindictive, jealous bitch who bullied her own sister into participating in a malicious prank on Trucy, and even tries to get Trucy tried for murder, but is then suddenly dismissed as a tsundere after because it wouldn't be "happy" I guess if Bonney ditched her. Compare that to Rise from the Ash's for example, where Lana and Jake, both sympathetic characters mind you, commit undeniably illegal actions and openly admit they'll have to face the consequences of them, or the beautifully bittersweet ending to The Inherited Turnabout.
The flattening of morality extends to the story, and this is when it gets really bad.
While AA always managed to pull through with generally "happy" endings, let's not kid ourselves with how bleak many of the stories could get, especially when they're backstory related. Farewell My Turnabout and Bridge to Turnabout especially take active pleasure in genuinely pretty harrowing events without giving you much "hope", and in the latter case ends on a rather bittersweet note for basically all parties involved. Good people did genuinely bad things, horrible things occurred to people for little to no reason (often being what lead to the murders) and the consequences of that usually had to be lived with. Stories themselves included references to or depicted various crimes beyond just murder, suicide and abuse among other subjects, and made a huge thematic deal about corruption.
Dual Destinies tries to include the "tragedy" angle in it's two-case finale, but it misses the point because those events are given a solution that doesn't need to have a lasting impact on the involved parties (Apollo doesn't even mention Clay in the following game). Other than that, it demonstrates this "simplification" principle in full force. No one besides the culprit ever does anything wrong (except for Aura, but she is barely even mentioned after a point in the final trial in spite of her importance), the culprits besides Marlon are one-note cartoon villains with insane motives (especially L'Belle) and the cases lack genuinely serious events or real consequences for the people involved (Juniper's dark secret is that she kinda snitched on one of her friends, and thinks he might have done something wrong. He didn't BTW, he did nothing). None of the darker points really show up in either game (the first victim of SoJ was stealing artifacts for his family, but this is barely even touched on), and the idea of corruption is laughable. The only thing the "Dark Age of Law" shows for all the talk of it is a single villain who repeats the same motto over and over, but his only displayed crime is something which the school was doing before the "Dark Age" even happened.
Then in the next game we get Khura'in.
HOLY CRAP DO I HATE KHURA'IN
AA had dabbled before in fictional foreign countries, making in a central plot element in the first Investigations, but the difference there is that they written as an actual believable small countries who got involved in the events of the story for very specific reasons, and were treated as just normal places with no overtly "exotic" elements to them. Lang, for example, is technically a foreigner, but his only "exotic" element is his Lang Zi readings (which isn't even that unusual a quirk), he's otherwise a fully believable person with a backstory that informs how he thinks and acts.
Khura'in, on the other hand, is a completely farcical setting with incredibly clumsy retcons meant to make it seem like a more connected part of the series world, and is defined by either purposely ridiculous religious beliefs, or the courts. The countries culture, backstory and important characters are all defined by the courts. Which, yes, were always the main focus of a series whose main characters are lawyers, prosecutors and other law professions, but were never treated as literally the most important thing in the setting. Khura'in gives a complete middle-finger to that and basically subjects to AA's world to the Yu-Gi-Oh treatment, where suddenly it's what the entire world is about.
Then, the conflict in Khura'in quickly becomes almost comically simplistic. AA had always a vastly biased court system because that was the reality in Japan, a country with a 99% conviction rate where lawyers are seen as criminals, but the idea of the DC Act turns the complex realities of Japan's legal system into a complete farce with black and white morality up the wazoo, even when it seems comically inappropriate. Dhurke's rebellion? Somehow going to be completely bloodless, raising the question of what he was even going to do. The Inmee's? Phoenix treats them as completely innocent victims even though they were willing to send Maya to her death. Inga's genuine love for Rayfa? Never even elaborated upon. Nahyuta's...everything? He's revealed to be faking it for Rayfa's sake, an explanation that doesn't make sense, doesn't fit what we see, and somehow ignores the blood of hundreds of innocents that would be on his hands.
And then there's Ga'ran. Holy shit Ga'ran. Initially actually kind of interesting as an intimidating symbol of absolute power in Khura'in, once she takes the stand she goes full wackjob and gets the design and personality of a One Piece villain, instantly everything about her deflates. The game ends up doing this utterly laughable attempt to try and make it look like anyone but her could be the villain, but nope, it really is the most evil person in the room. No surprises here, folks! Her motives, what little there are, are ripped completely from Morgan, only Morgan was written like an actual human being in a setting which was modelled on tropes found in mystery novels since the 40s. Ga'ran meanwhile ends up so comically over-the-top evil I'm surprised she didn't just talk about the power of darkness. It really is damning that Gant and Blaise, a police chief and top legal official respectively, are actually more intimidating than a goddamn monarch who despite being so powerful doesn't use her power to have the heroes just executed if she wanted to without harm. Ga'ran's entire character is to be nothing to be an evil villain who Apollo has to use his super lawyer powers on because he's the hero (despite doing nothing to build himself as one), and I hate it, so, so much.
Seriously, how did a series which started on three people nearly suffocating to death in an elevator eventually lead to storytelling on par with a bad Shonen manga!?!
Well...that got quite...impassioned. It begs a question, though.
How did this shift in the mainline series happen? I have a few theories of varying plausibility:

• It was something Capcom did to make the series more marketable: Of all the theories, this is the easily most plausible and likely. Ace Attorney is one of Capcom's major franchises, so to make it marketable would very much be in their interests. Perhaps, once the decision was made to continue the main series was made, they also enforced a lighter tone to not scare away people? We know they did pressure the team to bring back Phoenix, so it's possible that other things could've been done for marketability. And it fit with DGS being the same as Takumi's games, since as a spin-off without the recognizable characters management would probably place fewer mandates on it.
• It was an intentional choice from the staff to stray from the dark tone: Investigations 2, the previous game developed, is easily the darkest game in the series overall, having far less comic relief and more focus on character drama and philosophy, along with a very complicated story and backstory tied across the entire game. What if the strain of such put too much on Yamazaki's team, and they wanted to do "easier" works from then on? While possible, honestly, this one just depresses me a bit.
• Capcom interfered with AA5's story late in development due to disliking the direction: Those who follow me will probably remembered this idea in my very extensive theory post, and it remains a likely possibility. There's plenty of evidence that suggests the story of Dual Destinies was radically changed as the game itself was being developed, ranging from the final breakdown being very rushed technically to several cutscenes being outright absent from the final game. Though explaining SoJ would be more complicated.
• It was done to compete with Danganronpa: This is easily the most out-there suggestion, but think of it this way. While the first DR game was not an immediate success after it came out in November 2010, it quickly gained popularity after recommendations from the likes of Nasu and Urobuchi, and shot into being one of the best known VNs after the second game dropped in 2012. Even though they were for rival platforms, perhaps the developers saw the potential for a defeat from a new favourite, and tried going in a "zanier" direction to compete? Would explain Turnabout Academy at any rate. Though, if that's the case, evidently they didn't quite understand what made the game popular.

Soooo...yeah, that's my comments about the very specific direction of fifth and sixth mainline games, and why I see them as, as Raymond Chandler would put it, "Fiction made for psychopaths". Meaningless fiction which fails to communicate something greater or more emotional, and ends up as just forgettable dross. Exactly what the 新本格ミステリー (New Traditional Mystery) literary movement which shaped Japanese mystery fiction was meant to avoid, speaking quite bluntly.
It's a massive shame, and something I almost resent in how it caused me to lose my respect for the franchise for a number of years. Obviously, that's on me, but I have a sense of profound disappointment to how wasted so much of it is on terrible, half-hearted story writing.
And there is good to these games! Many of the characters created for them are genuinely compelling and would be fantastic in a better, more fully realized story (besides Khura'in, everyone and everything from that place is a bad idea). Yamazaki did away with Takumi's tendency to waste time on irrelevant gag witnesses (the Oldbag problem, I call it) and instead try making every character have a role in the story. And The Magical Turnabout I think is the best midgame case in the series, in part because it actually is the closest to Takumi's work in tone while not having his more aggravating tendencies.
Call it frustration, call it disappointment, call it whatever, I hope I got my thoughts out. Feel free to contribute with your own thoughts! I'd love to see takes on this subject, because I find it quite fascinating, and might bring way to a greater understanding for...all of us, I guess.
Thank You For Reading
Live Happily

ah sh¡t, here we go again—
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first off i just wanted to say that i really hope everyone here is okay mentally and physically. miss 'rona is making it very hard to enjoy life lmao
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anyways, sup? im riyadh, but call me ray :) i turn 18 next month and i can pretty much be summed up in three words; lonely, compulsive, and a huge weeb. and a homo. okay that was more than three words lmao
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okay so uhhh i guess i should tell you about me? im not really good at this stuff, forgive me :⁾
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basically, im really obsessed with physics, engineering, robotics, anime, serial killers/true crime, manga, etc. i currently have zero– count 'em, zero! – friends,, but that mostly because ive moved a lot recently. ive been do a different high school every single year of high school lmaoo but ive also had my fair share of fake and toxic friends which kinda makes me a bit scared of making friends :") and as a sagittarius AND a gryffindor,, that's pretty abnormal 💀
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i'd really like to find some genuine friends on here. ones that actually care about making a connection and are not just talking to me because they have nothing better to do. don't get me wrong, i love meaningless conversations! like, do dolphins have nipples? do penguins have knees?? can you beat yourself in a game of chess??? but i also like to give advice, listen to people's problems, and just generally be there for them. i hope you can do the same :") believe me, im the smartest dumbass you'll meet— i literally asked my brother what the name of the donkey from shrek was earlier today ssksjsskhd ihave a 3.8GPA and got accepted into (my dream) college early but i have ZERO common sense 👉🏿😎👉🏿
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n e way, i have discord if u wanna talk there. also if you're wondering,, my favorite anime is attack on titan,, along with death note, hunter x hunter, saiki k, devilman crybaby, and kakegurui because suicidal gambling lesbians is my jam.
have a good day :)

https://www.staynerd.com/scuola-anime-manga/
Cyclically it's possible to see an infinite number of videos shared on any platform on how the Japanese school system is structured, how the students' day begins and develops and so on. Going to school in the Land of the Rising Sun, in fact, means respecting a series of rules and traditions that are represented in a more or less faithful way even in anime and manga, however these are not to be considered a completely truthful source of how it really is be a student in Japan.
Indeed, anyone who has read or seen a fair number of manga and anime knows that the school has now become the scene of battles and clashes, physical and psychological, capable of reaching very high levels of madness! If on the one hand, in reality, the rebellion against this rigid system took place through fashion and delinquency (just think of the sukeban, gang of girls in school uniforms), in these stories we also see more direct comparisons, since certain schools they take on special rules and / or characteristics that make them extremely interesting for us but really infernal for those who frequent them!
The Japanese school system, one of the most stressful in the world
If you are veterans of anime and manga, by now you will already have quite clear how a typical Japanese school works but for those who are not familiar we make a summary of the main activities and rules, which differ enough from ours already starting from the different levels of education .
The Japanese elementary school lasts six years, therefore one more year, while both middle and high school last three years each. Over these twelve years overall, students will learn not only classic subjects such as Japanese language, mathematics and history but also things like home economics, which includes cooking or mending concepts, while gymnastics classes can also include sports such as swimming or baseball, if the school has a suitable pool or field.
There's, in fact, another factor to consider with respect to what happens in Italy: as can be seen from anime and manga, the protagonists often attend a private school. This is because a school complex can also include all degrees of education and lead directly to university and it is considered more prestigious to be able to access, rather than to a public school, certain institutions capable of offering a higher general level, recognizable right from the uniforms worn by their members, another characteristic now familiar to us of the Japanese school.
The school system, however, is considered one of the best in the world precisely because the students are immediately given concepts and ways of thinking that are supposed to accompany them throughout their lives: the common good comes first and the neighbor, instead of the individual; order and cleanliness go hand in hand with productivity; having good grades will guarantee the future and entry into society.
The latter aspect, then, is represented by the exams scattered throughout the school year (there are no maturity exams) and by the existence of special private preparation courses, which we can consider as our repetitions but very much geared to learning not only the contents but also the best way to pass the exam. These courses and lessons in general are so intense that these exam sessions are called shiken jikoku, "exam hell", and the pressure on students' shoulders is such that it can certainly be considered one of the causes of bullying and exclusion. among classmates, which are at least in part the consequence of the high expectations poured out on students, in a social context where the curriculum counts more than real skills.
How school has been disrupted in anime and manga
All these characteristics are taken up in any anime and manga that has school as the main setting. Being a common stage in anyone's life, it is certainly the ideal place to play the most classic love stories and events with classmates and professors.
Examples of this type we see them in cult titles such as The situations of him and her and GTO: in this type of works we can observe the high school students struggling with lessons, exams, festivals and interpersonal relationships that then often go beyond the timetable and the school environment. We know well how Onizuka does not have problems making gestures that clearly go beyond his role as a teacher, since the character of Toru Fujisawa was born to highlight above all the problems related to teaching and the relationship between educators and students; while Yukino Miyazawa, as well as her rival Soichiro Arima, is the classic example of the perfect student, who gets good grades and seems to have a smooth road to university, at the expense of her social relationships.
However, however sharply and sharply, simply showing and criticizing the condition of a traditional Japanese school is not enough and for this reason it is necessary to completely overturn the context, to favor new perspectives. Thus were born some of the most famous works of school setting. For example, let's go from Danganronpa, where Hope's Peak Academy is a school for super gifted kids, who will end up being forced to kill each other in a perverse survival game, to Assassination Classroom, where instead the students have the task of kill their alien professor. In this case we are dealing with works in which crimes and battles to the death make the school an unusual stage to tell from an extreme perspective social problems and ethical and moral conflicts, made even greater in their complexity by the fact of being faced by young people, with whom the target of these titles can fully identify.
There are others where instead the aim is to highlight those skills that students would normally have no way of demonstrating: Kakegurui, with his gambling games full of variables, bluffs and special rules, shows us a school where it tests the mental capacity of students, thus establishing the hierarchy not on achievement but on their analytical skills; this also happens in those works where the Japanese school is not at the center of every single scene or theme of the manga or anime, as in the case of My Hero Academia where simply the superhero school is part of the normal training path of anyone who wants to undertake the profession of Hero, but with the necessary divisions by class based on the interests and real abilities of the individual student, thus also obtaining the Support and Management sections.
Starting from school to change the future
It's impossible for us to mention every single anime or manga set in school but, in short, it's clear that this is one of the key places of Japanese culture and making it crazier than it already is an interesting way to advance a common request also of the our country, or the need to re-elaborate the concept of education and individual critical analysis.
Another of the many problems of the school, highlighted by the adventures of our favorite characters, is that thereìs often no possibility of choosing a different path from the one already traveled by thousands of students before them, as it's usually predetermined by adults unable to understand the new needs of students and young people in general. But given that there doesn't seem to be the will to change on the part of those who manage the system, in anime and manga then it's the protagonist students who impose their own rules and criteria, to establish who to be and what to do with their lives, demonstrating that the institution that should accompany them on this path is not able to fulfill this task and at the same time affirming more and more that individualism that in Japan it is still difficult to accept.
What students and the Japanese school lack are creativity, freedom and the vision of a future, in short, everything that an individual can develop for himself. Even in the most beautiful and rich schools represented in anime and manga we can observe these gaps. This is because of course they are stories on paper and screen and will continue to serve only as food for thought for those kids who one day will have to be part of society anyway. One can only hope that they will be the ones who will change its foundations to foster a new way of growing, learning and participating in life.

Alright then, so we know what the next location is, and it's rock-climbing at Apex Climbing Gym (which is a real place). By now it should be obvious that Kazuya is taking Chizuru to places that he personally knows she likes. Which begs the question where they are going to go next? Well lets answer that in the most roundabout way possible! Plus other differences in language and patterns I've been noticing. I'll be throwing a lot of maps around in here, ignore the travel time once 3 or more places have been entered, the time assumes you're going to each place one after the other on foot. I'll also be ordering possible places in such a way that they won't be backtracking at all or as little as possible, just moving forward the entire time. Keep in mind a lot of this is conjecture based on what I think Kazuya knows Chizuru likes and dates they've done before.

• Where they've already been during this date: First lets recap where they've been so far on the date. Refer to my previous post and focus on the middle section for a somewhat more in-depth look at where they've been up till now. They started at Shinjuku-sanchome station, went to a shop (location unknown, probably a nearby mall), then went to Wald 9 Cinema for the movie (IRL and manga panel comparison) in the previous chapter. In this chapter they went to a restaurant called "La Betola per tutti" (again a real place). Next place they go to in this chapter is called Apex Climbing Gym. So far everything is within walking distance. This is what I've come up with in as their progress thus far. As of 160, they've been tracking west before going north to Apex.
  • Quick side note: it's never said but I'm assuming Kazuya makes minimum wage, which was around 875 yen/hr in 2018 according to this. One panel showed us that some of the stuff they looked at started at 1500 yen each, which means Kazuya worked at least 4-5 hours just for the food, the madman! Also, the initial fee was 67,000 yen which means Kazuya had to work for 76 hours (assuming minimum wage) just for the fees! Not including whatever else he's paying for. For reference that's $635 USD, just to get to the starting line. Absolute legend.

What Kazuya knows (or might know) Chizuru likes or does, and other places they've gone to on earlier rental dates

• In the beach arc, Kuri recognizes Chizuru in her college persona as being in the literature department which Kazuya obviously hears, in the drinking arc he remembers. Since he knows this, it isn't unreasonable to assume that he might think that she would appreciate going to a bookstore. And guess what bookstore he had went to before to see her play? The Kinokuniya Shinjuku bookstore (manga panel and IRL photo). It's also where he went to see her in a play, but it feels redundant to watch a play when they've already seen a movie but you never know. There's a few panels in chapter 100 that show that Chizuru enjoys the book "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" (also here) and Sumi tells Kazuya in chapter 67 that she likes the manga known as "Sangokushi" which is based on that book. I would assume that bookstore would have those two things for sale, maybe even a play of 'Three Kingdoms'. But like I said seeing a play after a movie would be kind of redundant. So far if we assume they'd go to that same bookstore then this is their projected route. It's not very far from Apex, about a 10 minute walk.
  
• We know from this panel that Kazuya and Chizuru frequently go to tea shops (and aquariums, more on that later) as part of their rental dates. You know what's close to Apex Climbing Gym where they are now? Why, there's two tea shops! A place called "MARIAGE FRÈRES Shinjuku Store" a French themed place and "The Tee Tokyo" are what stood out to me since most of the others nearby only sell tea leaves and those two look pretty fancy. If they went to Mariage Feres then this map shows what their route would be like assuming they went to Apex and the bookstore mentioned above. Quick little fun fact, "Mariage" means 'wedding' in French! Before I get into the second one I mentioned (The Tee Tokyo) read the next part about potential destinations before the subpoint below, because if they went from the bookstore to Tee Tokyo and then the location I describe below they'd have to backtrack significantly.
  
  • Ok I assume you've read the part below about the batting cages, if you didn't why didn't you listen to me? Moving on! The Tee Tokyo is quite a bit of a stretch because of the order of destinations they would have to go through if they didn't backtrack a lot. It would look like this if they went to the batting cages immediately after the bookstore which makes a bit less sense to me than the order of Apex->bookstore->tea->batting cages. It's also kind of far away. Only real reason why I mentioned this store was because of this on their store page, which I thought was kind of adorable. Still a huge stretch.
• We know from Chapter 57 that Chizuru likes to visit batting cages to blow off steam. The one they went to in that chapter was called Kasuga-cho batting center (manga panel and IRL photo), but it's really far away from where they are now. Given that, it's more likely that he'd take her to a much closer one. As it so happens there's one nearby called "Shinjuku Batting Center". As it so happens it's in the area. This map is their projected route assuming they go to the bookstore and then the Mariage Freres tea shop next after rock climbing. As you can see, no significant backtracking. Now I know what you're gonna say, "but u/afatalstabbing why would they go to the batting cages if they've already gone rock climbing!". To which I'd answer "I dunno, this is mostly guesswork". Like I've said, Chizuru goes to the cages to blow off steam (IE cooldown) and Kazuya knows that. Back when I was on swim team we'd swim about 6-8 laps at a leisurely pace at the end of practice as a cooldown so we're not going from full-blast to hard stop. So that's how I'd describe it in this case, a cooldown period before going on to whatever might be next. Plus it also is a route that doesn't backtrack that much. Kazuya also literally says he's "swinging for the fences here!", it's almost too obvious.
  
• Ok this next one is really unlikely but here it goes anyways. We know that the very first rental date they went to a place called Sunshine Aquarium (IRL website and location on google maps). We know from this panel that they regularly go to aquariums, so Chizuru would be used to them by now. Unfortunately the biggest caveat to this possibility is how far away it is from Shinjuku and the batting cages I think they'd go to mentioned above. This is what the route would look like on google maps and its over half-hour away by train when everything else has been within walking distance. The longer I think about it the less convinced I am that they'll visit it. However I still think the date started at around 7:30AM based on the shot of the phone. That places the end of the date at 05:30PM, on the 24th of September 2018 (day of the date) the sun set at 05:36 PM. Ending the date at sundown at freaking sunshine aquarium? That's poetic and shit right? Unfortunately the map route would look like this if they went from that aquarium to the dinner reservation which is obviously too far from the dinner reservation and the aquarium.
  

The dinner reservation, the timeline, what they might do at the end and maybe Kazuya's final gamble

• I'm still holding out on the possibility that the date started at 7:30AM based on the shot of his phone (refer to a previous post of mine on why I think this and focus on the first section. If the date actually did start at 730AM then the date ends at 1730, a whole 30 minutes before the dinner reservation. If that's true, then Kazuya went ultra gigachad and made a huge gamble that Chizuru would agree to the dinner after the 10 hours were up. I'll admit that this is 100% conjecture and supposition and completely relies on the time on his phone being accurate as well as starting at 730AM which would make sense to me.
  
• Regardless on if the dinner is after or during the 10 hour date sooner or later they'll have to go home. And since they both live right next to each other they'll probably take the same train. Perhaps they'll keep holding hands even after the 10 hours? Maybe have one final conversation at the end of the day at their apartments? Who knows!
  

Physical contact, language, connotations and reversals of roles

• So far I've noticed that this is the 4th time Chizuru has been the one to initiate physical contact with Kazuya with her comment on stretching and twice with without being prompted. Two times to hold hands, once when she poked his head, and now the stretching. The first instance is when they were clothes shopping when she poked his head unprompted. Next time was right after that, she asks to hold hands rather than Kazuya. Next time is at the theater, here, here and here without prompting. On that last one I couldn't help but think that her sideways glance was like her almost asking Kazuya to fully take her hand and interlock fingers (more on that later). The final time is right before rock climbing, when she asks if he wants her help stretching.
  
  • A continuation on handholding on this date. I'm almost 100% certain this is the first date they've interlocked fingers when holding hands. Here's a few different kinds of examples that come to mind plus one showing her holding hands with someone else on a different rental date. Quick side note, does it seem like her shoulders are slightly raised up in that last example? Like she's anxious or something? She seems pretty relaxed with Kazuya, but not here to me. Anyways, there's probably more examples, but I don't feel like looking. Did you notice something about all of those examples? They're clasping hands together with the 'client' more like grabbing her fingers than actually holding hands or closer to something like a handshake. There are two times in the current arc so far where they've held hands. Right after shopping and at the theater. Notice something else? This is the first date that I've ever seen them interlock their fingers completely. And that last sideways glance felt like she was practically telling Kazuya out loud to turn his hand over to interlock.
• I'm sure a bunch of us noticed that the word 'Boyfriend' used here was different than the other two times I recall her ever using that word. Once in Chapter 48 when Mami had confronted Chizuru. It as bold and in italics. Here the panel has the word in italics ( the ' mark). In this instance to me it feels like her standard "girlfriend mode" type of deflection. Second time is in chapter 57 when the two of them are talking with Sayuri. No particular additions or differences in how it's written here, as if she as simply speaking matter-of-factly. Important to note that she was lying here. Maybe it's my english teacher dad and my schooling speaking, but does anyone else get the feeling that saying "I'm your girlfriend" is more of a 'I'm yours" vibe to it while saying "My boyfriend" gives a 'you're mine" vibe?" In that the reversal is less of a "I'm taking care of you" but now more of a "you're taking care of me". Calling herself his 'girlfriend' puts her second in the hierarchy between rental/client, but calling Kazuya her 'boyfriend' flips that and puts herself first in the hierarchy. On every rental date I've noticed she's referred to herself as the 'girlfriend' but on this one she refers to Kazuya as the 'boyfriend', almost as if Kazuya is the rental on this date. Kazuya's only objective on this date is to get Chizuru to enjoy herself rather than the other way around. In other words, he's effectively a 'rental boyfriend' to Chizuru right now. A role reversal, she's the client, he's the rental this time. She's taking the lead this time.
  

Final thoughts

• All this time Chizuru has thought of her and Kazuya's relationship as 'rental/client'. She came second, Kazuya came first. Full-stop, end of story. Because that's what a professional rental girlfriend is supposed to be. Perhaps now she's finally starting to realize that it's the other way around on this date. Kazuya's putting her above him without any consideration to his own well-being, he's a distant second to her. The way she closes her menu to draw his attention, how she stares at him to suss out his motives. At face value she's messing with him while also trying to guess what is game is. But I think it's more of a realization. "Wow, I really am an idiot am I?". As if it's only just now fully dawning on her how Kazuya has always put her first this whole time. That he'd throw everything away without a second thought or any regrets if it was for her. He was a dreamer without a dream, until he met Chizuru. That's why he can fight the good fight until the bitter end. "Think nothing of it" he'd say. "It's not a big deal", because to him any sacrifice for Chizuru was always worth the risk. It's just what any idiot with a dream would do, his one talent. Any dream of hers was a dream of his, and always worth fighting for. Kazuya might not yet be able to explain how he feels in words, but his actions speak much louder than anything he could ever say. Maybe Chizuru couldn't see it or even wanted to see it for fear of losing him. Perhaps she's finally opening her eyes to see what's been in front of her this whole time.

Cover Art!
Story Summary: After years of beatings and neglect from her parents, 13-year old Frances was summoned with her entire class to the fantastical world of Durannon to fight the monsters invading the human kingdoms and defeat the "Demon King." If she succeeds, she might have the home she never had. But if she can't overcome the trauma and self-loathing inflicted on her by her abusive parents, Frances will die, and be summoned back to the home she escaped, on the day that she left.
Teaser: While Frances was busy recovering and introducing Ayax to Martin and Elizabeth, the adults and a bunch of other teenagers discuss the recent developments.
[The Beginning] [<=Book 2 Chapter 11 (75)] [Chapter Index and Blurb] [Book 2 Chapter 13 (77)=>]
Index of Windwhistler Family Members
Fractured Song Discord Server so you can ask me questions and just hang with other fans. We have a meme channel. It has memes of the serial. They are glorious.
While the teens had been catching up, a number of far more serious discussions were taking place across Erlenberg.
The closest to the teenagers, was the one in the Windwhistler household. Eleanor had gathered the senior executives of the Windwhistler Household to their regular conference table. A rather comfortable room, warmly lit with crystal chandeliers and centered on a well-worn, but nicely varnished oval table.
Eleanor stood up. “Before we discuss the topic for today’s meeting… I’d like to thank Edana for… keeping my enthusiasm for the Winter Tournament reigned in.”
Edana barely kept her mouth from falling open. Her mother hadn’t said anything after she’d drawn her away and had only excused herself to prepare something for this meeting. That she was being thanked for essentially going against her mother’s wishes was… unexpected to say the least.
“You’re welcome, mom.”
Eleanor’s gaze dropped. “Look, I know I tend to be a bit—oh fine, very demanding, but that’s why I need your opinions. Frances was nearly killed yesterday. And as new as she is to our family, she’s family and we need—” Eleanor grimaced. “I think we need to respond to this.”
“Oh no, I think we can all agree on that sis,” hissed Eleanor’s younger sister, Emelia. “I’ve had our intelligence group scouring our contacts. We’re building a profile of the referee who was killed. I can share what we have.”
Eileen, Edana’s older sister, nodded. “Newspapers are going to be favorable to us in tomorrow morning’s issue. We are ready to smear the Voidsailors, Windstorms and Seaskimmers.”
Eustace, Edana’s older brother growled, “The strike fleet is standing by and ready for your orders.”
“So are our security forces,” declared Danny, one of Emelia’s two husbands.
“Trading fleet’s ready to buy out our rivals and run interference,” said Donna, Ayax’s aunt.
Elearnor and Edana blinked. As both women scanned the room, they realized that every single one of their family members had the same, or a similar, grim look.
“What… but she just met you a few weeks ago?” Edana stammered.
A few of her family members seemed to look slightly abashed, as if embarrassed. From beside Eleanor, Edana’s father, Paul, chuckled. “Edana dear, even if Frances was a brat, nobody hurts our family and gets away with it. And as you know, she is the sweetest.”
Eustace nodded. “I still can’t believe she got a gift for every single one of us. I mean, sometimes people forget me!”
“The children really like her too. Speaking of which, can they visit soon? Eva and Edmund are beside themselves with worry,” Edward, Edana’s younger brother asked.
“Oh. I’ll ask her. I think she’ll be happy for them to visit. She’ll be healed by tomorrow,” said Edana.
Elearnor nodded slowly. “Huh, if we are all in agreement, then what should we do exactly? Edana reminded me we don’t actually know who tried to kill Frances. Emelia, what do you have at the moment?”
Emelia shuffled her papers and narrowed her eyes at them, only to grumble as she couldn’t make out the words. Greg, Emelia’s husband, handed her her reading glasses, which she put on with a whispered thanks.
“Right, the late referee who tried to get Frances killed was Raven Tanner, thirty years old, unmarried. She’s not actually a tanner by trade, but an employee of the Voidsailor Banking Company. Not a simpler clerk either, she’s a manager who worked in an Alavari branch for a while. Before you start saying the Voidsailors did it, let me finish!” Emelia hissed, glaring at her family, who closed their mouths sheepishly. “Raven looks like just some ordinary woman at first, but we have some contacts in some of Erlenberg’s Pleasure Houses, and well, she has a money problem. Gambling, clubbing, drinking, she’s in need of cash. Now, the Voidsailors could indeed have paid her, but it’s highly unlikely they wanted her dead.”
“Go on…” said Eleanor.
Emelia grinned. “Because she was at one point, the mistress of one Oscar Voidsailor. They’re not together right now. He’s seeing someone else, but I have it on good authority that he is not happy that she’s dead.”
Eleanor and Emelia’s brother, Ethan whistled. “Well that’s scandalous.”
Eileen nodded. “Oh yes, but it also means that he probably wouldn’t have authorized the hit, and if he didn’t authorize the hit, he certainly didn’t authorize the sabotage. Besides, it doesn’t fit the Voidsailor’s particular patterns. These murder attempts are far too brutal and it breaks Erlenberg law. They will bend the rules to their advantage, but break one? No way.”
“Then maybe it was the Seaskimmers or Windstorms?” Paul suggested.
Eleanor shook her head. “The Windstorms possibly, but it’s probably not the Seaskimmers, though. They’re whiny, but open assassination isn’t their style either.”
Edward frowned. “Wait, but the Windstorms haven’t killed anybody openly for years, and why would they risk it? Last time they did it, they paid a terrible price.”
Erin, Edana’s younger sister nodded, “Besides, this is a terrible time and way to piss us off. The Winter Tournament is sacrosanct. They hate us, but they have to know that this will reflect terribly on them.”
Eleanor nodded, fingers drumming on the table. “You’re right… but… if we’ve ruled out the Voidsailors, the Windstorms and the Seaskimmers… then who the hell tried to kill Frances and killed Raven Tanner?”
Across the city, outside the solarium of the Voidsailor mansion, a warmly dressed Ophelia Voidsailor was spying on her grandfather and the people he probably was going to be shouting at.
She was outside the solarium because it was a room on the very roof of the Voidsailor mansion and there were no other rooms next to it. Lying flat on top of the solarium, stomach against the tiled roof, Ophelia cast a spell on the glass window she was sneaking her way to. The spell would make it look like there was just sky on the other side, even when she poked her head over the edge of the window. Finally, she wriggled a playing card, spelled to be a sound conductor, through the gap between the window shutter and pane, and made herself as comfortable as she could.
Her grandfather, Oscar Voidsailor, for such a short half-goblin, looked like he was about to reach across the round table he was seated at, seize the female troll he was seated across and strangle her.
“Are you saying I orchestrated this sabotage? Are your pointy ears full of fish shit right now Rachel? I literally gain nothing out of this!”
Rachel Windstorm glared back, “Oh don’t lie, Oscar. You’ll make sure you’ll win the Winter Tournament—”
“Ophelia winning the Winter Tournament doesn’t matter when the city thinks we did it underhandedly or did you forget what happened to your father, Jack?” Oscar roared.
That silenced Rachel, who glowered at Oscar, but said nothing else. Oscar didn’t sit down however, and it took Oliver, Ophelia’s father, to gently pull his father back.
“You made your point loud and clear, dad.” Her father pushed his glasses back up and said in a quiet voice, “That being said, we demand to know if someone among us here authorized this nonsense.”
Rachel downed her glass of water and shook her head. “No. I liked Raven, and I assumed you were still friends. I just thought you had a falling out or something. And yes we have had differences, but you know I wouldn’t do that to you.”
Ophelia blinked and felt her stomach squeeze uncomfortably. She thought the referee had looked familiar. Raven had visited their mansion and her grandfather quite a few times. It wasn’t a good relationship by any means, Oscar and Raven sometimes would break into very loud arguments, but there were times she’d see the pair together, genuinely happy.
Oscar glanced at the elderly orc male at the table, who raised his hands. “I’m just as confused as you Oscar. I’m checking with my sons and daughters to see if they know anything about this, but so far they seem to be genuinely shocked.”
Oscar sighed. “Thanks James. I… apologize for being so short, this is… infuriating.”
“It is bizarre how much it looks like we did it,” said Basil, Ophelia’s uncle and Basileus’s father.
“Basil what are you saying?” asked Jacob, Jeffrey Seaskimmer’s father.
“Well what if this whole thing was a Windwhistler setup? What if the Windwhistlers had their own champion blasted?” Basil asked.
Jacob shook his head. “No, way too risky. I was in the stands. Ophelia hit Frances with a full fireball. She could have killed her and that would have jeopardized their chances at winning the tournament. That and assassination? Did you see how furious Edana Firehand was? If Eleanor did orchestrate this she’d just piss off the White Order.”
“That and the entire Windwhistler family is up in arms about this.” Rachel shuddered. “I received a report that they’ve mustered their strike fleet.”
Oscar scowled.“Right, so it isn’t one of us, and it isn’t the Windwhistlers. We don’t know who it is right now, we’re going to find out but what matters is making sure the Windwhistlers don’t use this as an excuse to attack us. We need to appease them.”
Basil groaned. “Dad that’s a terrible idea—”
“No, Oscar, that's an excellent idea,” said James. He stroked his long white beard. “If we make it public enough, then the Windwhistlers can’t attack us without consequence.”
Ophelia’s father Oliver shook his head. “A public apology would lose us too much face. Let’s talk to the Windwhistlers first. I’ll go to Eleanor and discuss with her what we can do to make them understand we weren’t responsible.”
“That’s a good idea. What else can we do?” Oscar asked.
The meeting wound on for quite a bit and Ophelia, tuned most of it out. What she did notice however was that Rachel Windstorm seemed to be distinctly uncomfortable about the discussion.
When the meeting was finally over, everybody left, except for her grandfather, who was finishing up writing a note. Seeing the coast was mostly clear, she began to get up.
“Ophelia, did you get all of that?” Oscar hollered up.
Ophelia froze.
Oscar pointed at the window Ophelia was using. “I know you’re at that window over there. I can see your breath misting it up.”
Cursing herself, Ophelia scrambled down the solarium and entered in the normal way, head bowed appropriately.
“Sorry grandfather—”
“I would tell you not to do it again, but you’re going to do it anyway, so… what did you notice, and what are your thoughts?” he demanded.
Ophelia pursed her lips. “Well aside from what you discussed, Rachel seemed… nervous about something.”
“I agree. I don’t think she was involved in the attempt, but...she might know something we don’t,” said Oscar.
“Not like I can just ask Robert. He’s not talking to me anyway.” Ophelia tilted her head slightly. “Rachel and James were rather understanding of the Windwhistlers anger today. Usually, they’d be blaming them for everything.”
“You’re right. I wonder why…” Oscar glanced at Ophelia and frowned. “You don’t have to feel responsible for what happened to Frances.”
The young mage looked away. “I wasn’t.”
Oscar gave his granddaughter a knowing look. “Suuure.”
A day later…
Eleanor shook Oliver’s hand and watched him stride away through narrowed eyes. As the Voidsailor got into his carriage, the Windwhistler matriarch turned her back and strode to the practice grounds.
Frances was engaging in another practice duel, but this time, she was fighting Nobbo and Ayax together. She was losing, but through a combination of using a heavy magic shield, and some smaller offensive spells, she was staying in the fight.
Edana was watching her daughter with a look Eleanor could only say, seemed torn between worry and pride.
“Edana, can we talk?” Eleanor asked.
Edana glanced at Eleanor and nodded, before turning to Edward, who was also watching. “Have them go for some back and forth sprints before taking a break.”
“That’s going to make them happy,” Edward said airily, but he nodded and Edana went with her mother to the smoking room.
“So what’s the occasion, mom?” Edana asked.
Eleanor crossed her legs and drummed her fingers on her knee. “Oliver Voidsailor. He came to us with an offer for reparations, even though he quite vehemently states that the Voidsailors didn’t sanction this.”
“Do you believe him?” Edana asked.
Eleanor sighed. “I can’t see why I shouldn’t. I don’t trust the Voidsailors, or the Windstorms and Seaskimmers, but the attack… I thought it was them. It looked like something they could have done, except… it’s not really something they would have done. And… they offered us some pretty hefty concessions. All of this makes me inclined to think that they didn’t do this.”
Edana lifted her right hand, as if she was going to touch her nose, only to clasp her hands together.
Eleanor frowned, noticing that her daughter seemed...reluctant. “Edana, you have an idea.”
The head of the White Order winced. “It’s not a good one. Like really, it’s a terrible, terrible idea.”
“Then why do you look like you want to say it?” Eleanor asked.
Edana stood up and slowly began to walk from one wall of the library to the other. “So… we’ve quite quickly managed to put significant doubt on whether the Voidsailors, Windstorms or Seaskimmers were responsible, right? We can’t say we’ve eliminated them as suspects, but it does not seem like they did it.”
Eleanor leaned forward, moving her hand in a circle. “Yes, yes, get to the point.”
Her daughter, frowning so hard that her features were almost scowling, sighed. “You’re not going to believe me.”
“Oh for the love of the Gods of Sea and Sand Edana, just tell me!” Eleanor exclaimed.
“I think the Kingdom of Alavaria is behind this,” Edana said.
Eleanor’s ears stiffened and her eyes widened. “Fishshit.”
Edana shook her head and turned for the door. “Told you you wouldn't believe me.”
“Wait, wait, no just…tell me why,” Eleanor took a deep breath. “Firecracker, Alavaria hasn’t interfered with Erlenberg politics for a long time. So your suggestion is… like a ship appearing from a fog bank.”
Edana spun herself to face her mother, a pensive look on her features. “That is a rather apt analogy. Anyway, you recall that Raven Tanner is a manager at a Voidsailor bank branch in the Kingdom of Alavaria right?”
Eleanor had actually forgotten, but she schooled her features and said, “Yes… but that could just be an interesting coincidence.”
Nodding, Edana sat down across from her mother and pulled her chair in closer. “It could be, but let’s consider this. Who would stand to gain if four of the most powerful houses of Erlenberg, two of which were considering voting for the same military expansion bill, started to feud with one another?”
It was as if the floor had fallen from underneath her to reveal a void. Eleanor felt as if she was falling, her sense of gravity all gone, overwhelmed by sheer horror.
She’d known that the Kingdom of Alavaria were unhappy with her city, her home. But the sabotage… if it was then, it would mark an unheard-of escalation.
And yet, despite her horror, Eleanor stilled her features and nodded.
“If it is the Kingdom of Alavaria, what do you suggest we do?”
“Be on guard, and start to actively share information with the Voidsailors. They stand to lose a lot if Erlenberg is attacked. For the moment though, we have no other real options. Only suspicions,” Edana said. She pursed her lips. “I would like to offer White Order mages to help oversee the rest of the tournament. Most won’t be more than trained apprentices, but the more trustworthy eyes the better.”
Despite her worries, Eleanor forced herself to smile. “That would help a lot, Edana. I’ll talk to Oscar about it.” Pursing her lips, Eleanor asked, “Do you think we should tell Frances about this?”
Her daughter sank into the sofa across from her. “I don’t want to, but as this involves the war, she should know.”
Eleanor blinked. “You are very open with Frances,” she remarked.
It was something that she’d realized after seeing her daughter and her granddaughter interact for a few weeks now. If say Frances wasn’t sure about something, or committed a minor faux pas, she’d immediately tell her mother. Edana for her part, kept Frances informed about anything important, never even hesitating to let her know about the politics of the city.
“It’s why we trust one another. She even knows about my wild days,” said Edana.
“I see.” Eleanor smiled. “It’s good you’re not making the same mistakes as I am. I always hid too much from you.”
Edana smiled sheepishly. “You’re at least trying to learn now. You were even trying to do so before Frances and I arrived. That’s what counts.”
Eleanor chuckled and got up. “Well, I need to talk to Oscar, you better get Frances ready for her preliminaries.”
“I think she’ll be able to ace them. Don’t you worry, mom,” said Edana.
Late that night, Rachel Windstorm rapped frantically on the door to her son’s observatory. After a moment, the door swung open, revealing her son in a bedrobe.
“Mom? What’s going on?” Robert asked sleepily.
“I’ll explain.” Rachel strode in, dress billowing behind her as she took a seat at the study table. Her son, looking rather lost, took the other. “Have you by any chance thought of any less than strictly legal ways to turn the tournament to our favor? Be honest with me.”
Robert’s ears stiffened and Rachel knew her answer, even as he nodded. “Well, yes.”
The Lady Windstorm grimaced. “Right, you need to abandon them. I know I told you to win at any cost, but there’s been a development.”
Her son spluttered, eyes wide. “Abandon—but without them, I won’t have a chance—it’ll be much harder, to defeat that upstart Frances and her cousin.”
Rachel sighed. “Son, I’m sorry, I made a big, big mistake. There are far larger powers at play here and right now, the Windstorms cannot afford to anger our few allies right now, or infuriate the many enemies we have.”
Robert stared at her, before his eyes narrowed. “Does it have anything to do with that teatime you had with Raven Tanner a while ago?”
Rachel stood up so fast the chair scraped back, hard. She was around the table in a flash, her hands grabbing her son by the shoulders.
“What do you know about that meeting?” she demanded.
“Just that Raven was asking you for advice about something and you told her to go ahead with it.” Robert’s eyes widened. “It couldn’t have been—”
“No. It wasn’t. We had nothing to do with it,” Rachel cut in.
“Then why do you look so scared?” Robert stammered.
“Because it does not look good, Robert. Don’t say anything to anybody about this. Not to Ophelia, or Jeffrey,” Rachel hissed.
“But… but they’re my best friends,” Robert stammered.
“Robert, the problem is that a Voidsailor, or Seaskimmer… someone from the houses might have tried to set us up, and not just us. They’re trying to set the entirety of Erlenberg up. I am not yanking your yardarm to say it would be safer to tell Frances and Ayax Windwhistler than them right now!” Rachel released her son’s shoulders. “Promise me you won’t tell your friends.”
Robert swallowed and nodded slowly. Rachel smiled, hugged her son briefly, before bidding him goodnight and storming to her bedchambers.
If she’d dallied a little longer, or been a little more focused, she might have heard the sound of someone breathing outside of the window to her son’s observatory.
Jeffrey Seaskimmer, clad in shorts and tunic, slipped in, eyes wide. “Robert. What was that?”
Robert quietly restored the silencing spells to the observatory and shook his head. “I have no clue. Something… something serious is afoot. It’s all to do with Raven’s death and the attempt on Frances’s life.”
Jeffrey, trembling partly due to the cold, grabbed the spare blanket from where he’d thrown it aside in the scramble to get out. “I remember you telling me about that meeting before… all of this. You said Raven was asking your mom if she should go ahead and accept a job from an “Uncle Andy.” They didn’t discuss the details of the job, though.”
“Not that I know of. I… it had to be the sabotage of Frances’s safety ring.” Robert narrowed his eyes at Jeffrey. “You know nothing of this, right?”
“No.” Jeffrey winced. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but… it’s only fair for you to know my dad gave me a similar talking to earlier this afternoon. He… he wasn’t as alarmed as your mom, but he suspects something is afoot.”
The mirror in Robert’s room pulsed softly. The two boys exchanged a glance, quickly pulled on better shirts and sweaters and rushed over to it.
The image of Ophelia in a nightgown swam into view. Her hair, normally braided into pigtails, was a mess.
“Robert I couldn’t get—Oh, having one of your sheet-wrestling nights I see?” she giggled slightly as Robert and Jeffrey blushed. “Anyway, my dad—”
“Came into your room telling you not to talk about what you know about Raven Turner’s death?” Jeffrey quipped.
“And told you not to talk to your friends?” Robert asked.
Ophelia arched an eyebrow and popped, “Yes.”
“Wanna exchange notes?” Robert asked.
“Definitely!” Ophelia exclaimed. She swallowed. “Robert, Jeffrey, sorry about the ball thing um—”
Robert sighed, “Look, I was… being an ass. I’m sorry too.”
Jeffrey nodded. “I’m sorry as well. Though, you do have a nice ass Robert—”
“Jeffrey, not the time!” Ophelia hissed. “Apology accepted, let’s get to work boys.”
Author’s Note: We kick into high gear!
Unfortunately, Vren55 is ummm has an announcement to make. Nothing's changed per se but I'm giving advanced warning.
So everybody, I'm actually feeling a bit under the weather due to the graveyard (10:30pm-7:15am) shifts I've been working this month. I expected they would help writing but they bit into it instead. At the moment, normal chapter updates will continue, but I'd just like to let you all know a break will be necessary if I lose the buffer I've been keeping up. Hopefully, it won't come to pass. I like updating! But I do feel like I should let people know.
For the question of the update: I found out not too long ago that stage fighting and combat in fiction is all about conveying a particular aspect of the story. What's your favorite fight/battle scenes in a fictional medium? A few of my favorites... well a lot of my favorites.
- The Princess Bride, Inigo Montoya vs. Wesley/The Dread Pirate Roberts
- The Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Will and Elizabeth get married
- Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Ride of the Rohirrim
- Pacific Rim, Gypsy Danger vs. Leatherback and Otachi
- Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood and Manga): Everybody vs. Father
- Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - Jen vs. Shu Lien (the one where Shu Lien goes through a metric ton of weapons)
- Avatar: The Legend of Korra, Korra vs. Kuvira, everybody vs. mech.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender, the Last Agni Kai.

ah sh¡t, here we go again—
🧛🏿‍♀️
first off i just wanted to say that i really hope everyone here is okay mentally and physically. miss 'rona is making it very hard to enjoy life lmao
🔭
anyways, sup? im riyadh, but call me ray :) i turn 18 in 3 days and i can pretty much be summed up in three words; lonely, compulsive, and a huge weeb. and gay. okay that was more than three words lmao
🦎
okay so uhhh i guess i should tell you about me? im not really good at this stuff, forgive me :⁾
🩹
basically, im really obsessed with physics, engineering, robotics, anime, serial killers/true crime, manga, etc. i currently have two– count 'em, two! – friends,, but that mostly because ive moved a lot recently. ive been do a different high school every single year of high school lmaoo but ive also had my fair share of fake and toxic friends which kinda makes me a bit scared of making friends :") and as a sagittarius AND a gryffindor,, that's pretty abnormal 💀
🍷
i'd really like to find some genuine friends on here. ones that actually care about making a connection and are not just talking to me because they have nothing better to do. don't get me wrong, i love meaningless conversations! like, do dolphins have nipples? do penguins have knees?? can you beat yourself in a game of chess??? but i also like to give advice, listen to people's problems, and just generally be there for them. i hope you can do the same :") believe me, im the smartest dumbass you'll meet— i literally asked my brother what the name of the donkey from shrek was earlier today ssksjsskhd ihave a 3.8GPA and got accepted into (my dream) college early but i have ZERO common sense 👉🏿😎👉🏿
🎱
as for relationships,, im a lesbian. i literally don’t have a type lmao- if you’re a good person at heart,, that’s legit all i care about :”))
⚔️
n e way, i have discord if u wanna talk there. also if you're wondering,, my favorite anime is attack on titan,, along with death note, hunter x hunter, saiki k, devilman crybaby, and kakegurui because suicidal gambling lesbians is my jam.
have a good day :)

Ryota becoming Student Council President? I’m not exactly sure if the series is ongoing in the manga, but I think it would be awesome if it ended this way.
Two scenarios:

1. Ryota wins a huge final gamble and gets tons of votes.

This is what I’d prefer, with him winning the position by his own power. I don’t think he’d become head of the Momobami clan as he isn’t a member. Maybe have Yumeko take that role.

1. Yumeko wins, but gives him the position instead.

I think she’d do this. All she wants is a good gamble, not money or power. That being said, she may become head of the Momobami clan and restore the almost forgotten Jibamis to power.
Either way, Ryota’s first order of business is to abolish the cruel house pet system. The school returns somewhat to normal, but still keeps its gambling tradition.
I think it would be a great way to end the series. One of the opening lines is “Once you fall this far, you can’t climb back up. That’s what I thought until she arrived.” Wouldn’t it be awesome for him to go from the bottom to the top?

ah sh¡t, here we go again—
🧛🏿‍♀️
first off i just wanted to say that i really hope everyone here is okay mentally and physically. miss 'rona is making it very hard to enjoy life lmao
🔭
anyways, sup? im riyadh, but call me ray :) i turn 18 next month and i can pretty much be summed up in three words; lonely, compulsive, and a huge weeb. okay that was more than three words lmao
🦎
okay so uhhh i guess i should tell you about me? im not really good at this stuff, forgive me :⁾
🩹
basically, im really obsessed with physics, engineering, robotics, anime, serial killers/true crime, manga, etc. i currently have zero– count 'em, zero! – friends,, but that mostly because ive moved a lot recently. ive been do a different high school every single year of high school lmaoo but ive also had my fair share of fake and toxic friends which kinda makes me a bit scared of making friends :") and as a sagittarius AND a gryffindor,, that's pretty abnormal 💀
🍷
i'd really like to find some genuine friends on here. ones that actually care about making a connection and are not just talking to me because they have nothing better to do. don't get me wrong, i love meaningless conversations! like, do dolphins have nipples? do penguins have knees?? can you beat yourself in a game of chess??? but i also like to give advice, listen to people's problems, and just generally be there for them. i hope you can do the same :") believe me, im the smartest dumbass you'll meet— i literally asked my brother what the name of the donkey from shrek was earlier today ssksjsskhd ihave a 3.8GPA and got accepted into (my dream) college early but i have ZERO common sense 👉🏿😎👉🏿
🎱
n e way, i have discord if u wanna talk there. also if you're wondering,, my favorite anime is attack on titan,, along with death note, hunter x hunter, saiki k, devilman crybaby, and kakegurui because suicidal gambling lesbians is my jam.
have a good day :)

yo im bored af and i really want some manhwa/manga to read. list some non generic ones too if that's okay. if you can think of it, i've prolly already read it but idc just list your faves :)
here is my list so read them if you'd like :)

• - weak hero ( Once the bullies target you, it's game over. The school is run by tyrants whose favorite hobby is tormenting the weakest kids in class. But then Gray arrived. This mysterious new student threatens to dismantle the established order. He may be small in stature, but his calculative and brutal fighting leaves unsuspecting opponents lying on the floor begging for mercy. Now the school's toughest bullies have to scramble to take down this new and unusual hero)
• - lookism ( Park Hyung Suk, overweight and unattractive, is bullied and abused on a daily basis. But a miracle is about to happen)
• - windbreaker ( Jo Ja-Hyun (Jay) is the student president of Taeyang (Sunny) High. He is not just a smart student but an extreme biker with high techniques. As you follow his bike, you will meet his friends, love, and adventures)
• - the boxer (about a emotionless guy who is super strong but he doesnt mind getting hit and bullied until one day the guy he "admires" is hurt so he fights back and wins instantly. he is scouted by one of the top boxing coaches and goes on his journey - free on webtoon haha)
• - study group (delinquent manga. basically the mc is really strong except he doesn't really like fighting and instead wants to be the top student in school (but he sucks at studying) just a wsarning tho: the teacher is really annoying and she might be the love interest of the mc - ikr disgustAng - and she tries to stop all the fighting - i wish she would die no offence)
• - castle (mafia manga. the mc is really strong and is trying to break down castle - a huge mafia group)
• - blue lock (a really cool soccer manga but instead of encouraging team work, its about being the most egotistical striker ever. i love the mc because hes super cool)
• - mashle (opm. the mc is basically asta and saitama and saiki merged together and the actual manga has harry potter vibes. basically this guy who has no magic is super strong because he works out a lot and he loves cream puffs and will do anything for them)
• - chainsaw man (SO COOL my username is from it haha, i like the mc hes adorable and hot at the same time - hes like bakugo (youll understand if you read it) and he becomes a chainsaw monster and fights other monster. the latest chapters are super confusing so just pay attention)
• - 1000 yen hero (opm but with robot like superheros who fight monsters. the mc is really strong but poor so he can barely transform - he needs 1000 yen to fight for 1 second)
• - gangnam dokkaebi (about this guy who fights evil dokkaebi i guess but i like the mc, hes cool)
• - cell (only at 13 chapters so i dont have much but basically about this rich boy who lost his parents and money and gains god like superpowers that make him fight against delinquents to reach the top once again)
• - tougen anki (also like naruto except the mc is an oni and he has to fight against the oni hunters with his agency, the mc looks like shinra mixed with sasuke)
• - jujutsu kaisen (got an anime like 2 weeks ago and its basically naruto but the mc has a strong demon inside of him instead of a nine tailed fox)
• - blue period (the most beautiful manga ever - about a delinquent who joins art and the manga itself is so deep and WOW)
• free draw (bruh the mc is a delinquent but draws manhwa and he joins the art club but a comedy)
• elio the fugitive (based in spain - i think it's about a war? its not that far in yet but i love the mc, hes so pure)
• pigpen (about this guy who lost his memories and he ends up with a really creepy family that claim they own the island and the place is a motel or something)
• kingdom - (based on true history- shin is a servant but wants to become a general and becomes friends with the king - yes that king who united all of Qin in 200 bce, Li Si)
• arlsan senki (anime is better) (kingdom but a different place and era)
• shoukuku no altair (its an anime but it's basically kingdom but more strategy than literal action)
• out (your average delinquent manga but 10x better)
• tomodachi game (my ultimate fav) (a "friendship" game where they shouldn't betray eachother - but ofc that aint happening. mc is literally so cool he has a killing side and a nice side and he's not a crybaby)
• ominous liar (so funny) (comedy about 3 people who have special powers)
• ajin - (a guy whos an ajin - idk how else to explain it)
• kokou no hi to (a guy who's a mountain climber - warning: this is a complete tear jerker and a lot of people die)
• omniscient readers viewpoint ( solo leveling vibes but has a complete different story line - love the mc tho)
• solo leveling (i dont think i need to say anything)
• vinland saga (i dont think i need to explain)
• usogui (super smart mc who gambles and wins)
• d gray man (boy who has a power and kills akuma - humanish weapon things)
• terror man (guy who can see problems but accidentally becomes known as the worst terrorist)
• darwin’s game (people get caught in a game where they have challenges that can lead to their death)
• golden kamui ("village" girl and military man try finding gold - a lot of eating in this)
• how to fight (weak guy who learns how to fight from watching videos online and streams his bullies)
• vagabond (guy becomes a umm swordfighter?? idk the work but its really good)
• beserk (i dont think i have to explain this one)
• records of ragnarok (gods vs. humans basically)
• may i ask for one final thing (strong female mc who hits people she doesnt like - romance)
• white blood (vampire girl killing other vampires - romance)
• when night falls (guy who can kill people in their dreams)
• medical return (dude who's reborn and becomes an amazing doctor)
• koimonogatari (BL - the most realistic shounen ai ever)
• seishun x kikanjuu (a game about shooting each other lmao)
• master of gu ( dropped but literal cold blooded mc)
• alice in murderland ( ihavent read this in a hot minute so i forgot)
• sk8r's (super cool- about skaters)
• at the end of the road (BL- super cute and not that lovey)
• the world is money and power (meh a gambling manhwa)
• juujika no rokunin (literally a manga all about cold revenge- the mc wants to kill his bullies who killed his parents)
• kengan asura (so gooodoododoodod and a tear jerker. basically about a guy who joines a fighting competition... its just amazing. theres also a spin off called kengan omega about 2 kids who join the competition)
• ballroom e youkusu (its an anime and manga all about ballroom dancing. its so cool and i love seeing them dance. ngl the teacher is hot af)
• jagaaaaan (idk how to explain it. basically people can change into monsters because of a frog living in them. there are also undeveloped ones ( like the mc) who fight against them and protect the people. the mc kills his ex gf and wants to get her back to life, but in order to do that, he needs to kill all the monster things. the frogs come and develop because of your desires.. its super gory but really weird and good)

​
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GIVE ME RECCOMENDATIONS TO ADD TO THIS LIST!!! JUST MAKE SURE THEY'RE NOT SUPER FAMOUS LIKE TOKYO GHOUL OR NARUTO OR SOMETHING AND ALSO THAT THEY HAVE SIMILAR VIBES TO THE ONES LISTED UP ABOVE - MORE MATURE ONES. I'M CAUGHT UP WITH 90% OF THESE MANGAS/MANWAS SO ASK ME ANYTHING AND I'LL TRY MY BEST TO EXPLAIN :)
if you want be to recommend some others ask me and i'll try to find some good ones haha

1. Midari pisses her off: 1 2
2. MAJOR MANGA SPOILER for anime watchers, also imo the best exchange so far in the series, and without a doubt Suzui's finest moment: 1 2 3

My theory right now is that Yumeko's sister tried to kill herself after she lost everything in that final gamble, but she failed and ended up hospitalized for life. I don't think Yumeko sympathizes with whatever happened to her, but instead feels sorry that she doesn't feel sorry, like what she told Manyuda. That, btw, is the only time in the manga we've ever seen her POV. I just wonder if Yumeko had a part in whatever happened to her sister other than having to deal with the aftermath.
I know a lot of people really don't like that we still don't know anything about Yumeko, but I LOVE a slow burn. It makes all the reveals and unexpected earnest moments that much sweeter. I can't wait to see how Yumeko's sister comes into play in the end. What happened to her, especially with the big reveal in the last chapter that "Kirari killed Jabami"? Why did Yumeko transfer to this school in the first place? So many questions!

yo im bored af and i really want some manhwa/manga to read. list some non generic ones too if that's okay. if you can think of it, i've prolly already read it but idc just list your faves :)
here is my list so read them if you'd like :)

• - weak hero ( a feminine looking boy starts getting into fights in his new high school and yea... its really good and one of my favs. ngl im in love with gray and DONALD NA - HOW CAN AN ANTAGONIST BE THAT ATTRACTIVE LIKE THE TATOOS AND THE PIERCINGS LIKE I CANT.. sorry. big ben, alex, stephen, eugene, literally all his friends are so wholesome and gray is so lucky, especially with the things that happened in the past)
• - lookism (this fat loser gets a second super attractive body and he fights, A LOT, and basically a delinquent manhwa. honestly one of my faves so if you have some like this, pls recommend)
• - windbreaker (about the school president whos basically emotionless but loves biking and he joins a biking group to compete in a really big biking event. i love jay and shelly and they're so fricking adorable... jay such a huge tsundere - ps this is NOT a spoiler, im just shipping them)
• - the boxer (about a emotionless guy who is super strong but he doesnt mind getting hit and bullied until one day the guy he "admires" is hurt so he fights back and wins instantly. he is scouted by one of the top boxing coaches and goes on his journey - free on webtoon haha)
• - study group (delinquent manga. basically the mc is really strong except he doesn't really like fighting and instead wants to be the top student in school (but he sucks at studying) just a wsarning tho: the teacher is really annoying and she might be the love interest of the mc - ikr disgustAng - and she tries to stop all the fighting - i wish she would die no offence)
• - castle (mafia manga. the mc is really strong and is trying to break down castle - a huge mafia group)
• - blue lock (a really cool soccer manga but instead of encouraging team work, its about being the most egotistical striker ever. i love the mc because hes super cool)
• - mashle (opm. the mc is basically asta and saitama and saiki merged together and the actual manga has harry potter vibes. basically this guy who has no magic is super strong because he works out a lot and he loves cream puffs and will do anything for them)
• - chainsaw man (SO COOL my username is from it haha, i like the mc hes adorable and hot at the same time - hes like bakugo (youll understand if you read it) and he becomes a chainsaw monster and fights other monster. the latest chapters are super confusing so just pay attention)
• - 1000 yen hero (opm but with robot like superheros who fight monsters. the mc is really strong but poor so he can barely transform - he needs 1000 yen to fight for 1 second)
• - gangnam dokkaebi (about this guy who fights evil dokkaebi i guess but i like the mc, hes cool)
• - cell (only at 13 chapters so i dont have much but basically about this rich boy who lost his parents and money and gains god like superpowers that make him fight against delinquents to reach the top once again)
• - tougen anki (also like naruto except the mc is an oni and he has to fight against the oni hunters with his agency, the mc looks like shinra mixed with sasuke)
• - jujutsu kaisen (got an anime like 2 weeks ago and its basically naruto but the mc has a strong demon inside of him instead of a nine tailed fox)
• - blue period (the most beautiful manga ever - about a delinquent who joins art and the manga itself is so deep and WOW)
• free draw (bruh the mc is a delinquent but draws manhwa and he joins the art club but a comedy)
• elio the fugitive (based in spain - i think it's about a war? its not that far in yet but i love the mc, hes so pure)
• pigpen (about this guy who lost his memories and he ends up with a really creepy family that claim they own the island and the place is a motel or something)
• kingdom - (based on true history- shin is a servant but wants to become a general and becomes friends with the king - yes that king who united all of Qin in 200 bce, Li Si)
• arlsan senki (anime is better) (kingdom but a different place and era)
• shoukuku no altair (its an anime but it's basically kingdom but more strategy than literal action)
• out (your average delinquent manga but 10x better)
• tomodachi game (my ultimate fav) (a "friendship" game where they shouldn't betray eachother - but ofc that aint happening. mc is literally so cool he has a killing side and a nice side and he's not a crybaby)
• ominous liar (so funny) (comedy about 3 people who have special powers)
• ajin - (a guy whos an ajin - idk how else to explain it)
• kokou no hi to (a guy who's a mountain climber - warning: this is a complete tear jerker and a lot of people die)
• omniscient readers viewpoint ( solo leveling vibes but has a complete different story line - love the mc tho)
• solo leveling (i dont think i need to say anything)
• vinland saga (i dont think i need to explain)
• usogui (super smart mc who gambles and wins)
• d gray man (boy who has a power and kills akuma - humanish weapon things)
• terror man (guy who can see problems but accidentally becomes known as the worst terrorist)
• darwin’s game (people get caught in a game where they have challenges that can lead to their death)
• golden kamui ("village" girl and military man try finding gold - a lot of eating in this)
• how to fight (weak guy who learns how to fight from watching videos online and streams his bullies)
• vagabond (guy becomes a umm swordfighter?? idk the work but its really good)
• beserk (i dont think i have to explain this one)
• records of ragnarok (gods vs. humans basically)
• may i ask for one final thing (strong female mc who hits people she doesnt like - romance)
• white blood (vampire girl killing other vampires - romance)
• when night falls (guy who can kill people in their dreams)
• medical return (dude who's reborn and becomes an amazing doctor)
• koimonogatari (BL - the most realistic shounen ai ever)
• seishun x kikanjuu (a game about shooting eachother lmao)
• master of gu ( dropped but literal cold blooded mc)
• alice in murderland ( ihavent read this in a hot minute so i forgot)
• sk8r's (super cool- about skaters)
• at the end of the road (BL- super cute and not that lovey)
• the world is money and power (meh a gambling manwha)
• juujika no rokunin (literally a manga all about cold revenge- the mc wants to kill his bullies who killed his parents)