Comfort Entertainment: ‘Critical Role’ Campaign 3 Character Changes

Promotional image of Robbie Daymond for campaign three of ‘Critical Role’. Copyright goes to ‘Critical Role’.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I started watching campaign three when it first started airing, but quickly fell off because of things getting busy in my life. I couldn’t always watch the four hours every week; but more and more has encouraged me to actually catch up and start again with this campaign. Of course, one of those reasons is absolutely the amazing Robbie Daymond. He’s been one of my favorite voice actors for a while (I fell in love with his work after he voiced Prompto in ‘Final Fantasy XV’), and I was ecstatic when I realized that he was bringing Dorian to campaign three. I loved watching him in Exandria Unlimited and thought he would be a perfect addition to the regular group. On top of that, the campaign began to blow up all over the internet for several reasons and I haven’t seen all of the actors in ‘Critical Role’ this happy with their characters and character dynamics in a while. Everything about this campaign seems to be just clicking for everyone. Including the closer connections to campaign one. So I’m going to talk about each of the characters and the differences and similarities from past campaigns that made these characters just click! LIGHT SPOILERS FOR CAMPAIGN THREE AHEAD!!!

Robbie Daymond as Dorian Storm:

I’m going to start with Dorian since this is Robbie’s first full campaign with ‘Critical Role’. Dorian Storm is an air genasi bard that comes from a rich family and, despite his love of performance, actually suffers from stage fright and social anxiety. This dichotomy makes him one of the most interesting characters as well as one of the most hilarious characters. Robbie is excellent at reactions! When anything happens or another character says something weird, I always look at Dorian for his reaction because you can rest assured that it will probably be hilarious. Dorian is also extremely charming despite his anxiety, meaning that he attracts more people than he would like to. Because of how open Robbie has been about portraying Dorian with anxiety, he received instant recognition for being an incredibly relatable character. Robbie knows how to be likable and make any character kind of adorable; Dorian Storm is no exception. Even though Dorian is only in fourteen episodes, he made a massive impact. All of us are already anxious for him to come back and hopeful that he may eventually. And Robbie officially is the longest guest appearance on ‘Critical Role!

Travis Willingham as Chetney Pock O’Pea:

So we all know that Travis had a hell of a time being the absolutely chaotic Grog; something that he hasn’t quite tried to recapture since. Fjord was the exact opposite of that. A lot of the players for campaign two decided to try out something very different from what they had been with for so long, which makes sense! Fjord was more of a leader type character who dealt mostly in strategy. On top of that, Fjord ended up in a romance thanks to the persistence of one Laura Bailey, that made it so that Fjord was so completely different from Grog that it was almost an unrecognizable change. This time, Travis seems to be wanting to get back to the non-romantic chaos that he missed. Shocking everyone, Travis decided to play a gnomish blood hunter who is very very old. He effectively has removed himself from a potential romance and made himself chaotic in a different way that’s just as endearing. It seems that Travis is having a hell of a time playing this character and he seems content to be going a bit crazy again.

Marisha Ray as Laudna:

Marisha was fairly newer to D&D than many of the others when she first started out as Keyleth and, to make up for that, created a character that felt just as nervous and insecure as she did. Keyleth was an amazing character, but towards the end of the first campaign it really did feel like Marisha was eager to break out of the Keyleth shell and try something else. Beau seemed to be right up her alley, but she quickly found playing a monk very frustrating. My sister has played a monk before and liked the experience about equally to what Marisha seemed to. It’s not a very hard hitting class when you look at it. Marisha seems to have hit her stride with Laudna. And this is even more clear now that Marisha’s talked about her persistence with Laudna in more detail. Laudna is an unknown humanoid creature that’s probably an undead and a warlock. Though she is very sweet, her mannerisms and way of talking just come off as very creepy. She’s very unsettling in the most hilarious of ways and has an incredibly protective streak. She’s become a fan favorite in not much time and, after Marisha received so much undeserved hate for Keyleth, I’m so glad that Marisha is finally getting the recognition she deserves.

Liam O’ Brien as Orym of the Air Ashari:

Liam has tried several different types of characters and has seemed very happy in whatever he plays. Vax was a more roguish character who was far less social and definitely more edgy. But as Liam comes up with more characters, it’s starting to seem like he really loves the wholesome aesthetics. Caleb had an extremely tragic backstory, but was a very kind, introverted, and wholesome caretaker of his group. Orym seems to be similar in that regard. Liam likes to be a good caretaker of his group and he does it very well! Orym is a halfling fighter from the Air Ashari, meaning that he is apart of the same group that’s currently under Keyleth. Orym was also in Exandria Unlimited and was a part of one of my favorite comedic scenes when he pretended to be the child of another character. Orym is probably one of the most wholesome characters I’ve seen and that’s coming from having already seen the super sweet Caleb. He’s just there for everyone else with his short sword and shield. One of the most loyal and the most unfathomably kind members of the group. This is right in what Liam seems to be loving playing lately and I highly appreciate it!

Laura Bailey as Imogen Temult:

Laura has been known for her characters with dramatic and entertaining personalities and they have all been very different. She seems to have enjoyed each character equally with Vex being a smooth talking badass and a fan favorite while Jester was the adorably sweet and sometimes crude absolute fan favorite of campaign two. Jester was absolutely the most popular character of the second campaign and also the common crush of almost all of the party. It was hard for anyone to resist Jester. Now Laura is trying out something completely different with the more reserved and almost geeky-intelligent Imogen. She’s interesting from the get-go because of her telepathy, but she’s also been more and more interesting as a pure heart and the seeming emerging leader. Imogen is a human sorcerer with an adorable southern accent and rapidly increasing powers that remind me a little of the Scarlet Witch. Either way, this is going to prove to be really interesting. Especially because she seems to be the current moral center of the group.

Sam Riegel as Fresh Cut Grass:

Sam always goes for the comedy in whatever role he plays. In his first campaign he went for the traditional promiscuous bard, and we can all agree that his songs are hilarious and better than most. He’s so great at improvisation! Sam admitted to getting a little tired of Scanlan for a while and even played as a different character before eventually bringing Scanlan back. Sam made Nott, a goblin woman, for the second campaign. The scratchy voice became tiring for him to do really quickly, but it was hilarious every time. This is one of my favorite Sam characters. FCG is a Aeormaton Cleric that mainly deals in empathy. They are another moral center of the group that is hilarious in their adorable innocence. They eat copper, store liquid, and even have another secret side that we’ve only recently figured out about. But otherwise, FCG is just a hilarious as all of Sam’s characters have been and Sam seems to be having just as much of a blast with this one. We all must protect FCG.

Ashley Johnson as Fearne Calloway:

This is the first campaign where Ashley has been able to be here all the time and we’re all loving it. We’ve already seen so much of her as both Pike and Yasha, but I can never get enough of Ashley. Pike was so sweet and such a comfort whenever she came in and her friendship with Grog was nothing short of adorable. Ashely expressed that she had some issues with Yasha going in because she loved Pike and had played her for so long. Yasha was a lot more reserved and Ashley couldn’t completely connect to that, which I understand. I’ve done that to myself before in my own games. I have never seen Ashley have so much fun as she seems to be having playing Fearne. Fearne is a faun druid, making our ladies in this campaign an amazing witchy trio. I love it so much! Fearne is one of the least moral of the group as she has no problem stealing or killing and often does things out of selfishness. She seems sweet on the outside but she will often say something rather startling and she is now known as the epitome of chaos. She’s one of the fan favorites in this campaign for a reason and balancing all that with a character who can still be sweet is an impressive feat!

Taliesin Jaffe as Ashton Greymoore:

Taliesin has always been masterful when creating his characters. Taliesin probably had the fan favorite of the first campaign with Percy, who everyone loved off the bat. A slightly selfish character who was also unapologetically intelligent and very cool under pressure. He barely got any time to play Mollymauk, a character that he had in the works for a long long time. But Caduceus seemed to fit him and was kind of like comfort within a character. Though the character of Ashton seems to make it clear that we got too little time with Molly. Though Ashton is different, he also has a similar charisma to him though he is a lot more people adverse. But just like Molly, Ashton is so much fun. They are a barbarian that keeps their distance at the same time they get easily attached to new people in their lives. And I absolutely love the stealing friendship between Fearne and Ashton as well as the way that Ashton looks out for FCG. Another warm and charismatic character that can be slimy sometimes, and I’m so glad to see a character like this again. I love them!

It’s interesting how this group of characters really feels like the knowledgeable experience of the group. It feels like they all know what they like now and are having so much fun together playing that out. And the characters seemed to fit perfectly together from the very beginning. It’s such a cute group from the get go and definitely one of my favorite groups to follow from any D&D show ever. Though I think Campaign Two still holds a very special place in my heart. Seriously, go check out this campaign already if you haven’t. Every character is so much fun!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Star Wars:’Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi’ Review

Screenshot of Count Dooku and Mace Windu in episode three of ‘Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi’. Copyright goes to Walt Disney Studios and Lucasfilm.

Hey! Hallie here!

I wasn’t initially planning on reviewing this series of shorts. As a series made up only of six episodes that are each less than twenty minutes long, it didn’t feel like there would be much to talk about. But ‘Tales of the Jedi’ completely blew me away. Between the really intriguing characterization of Dooku sliding to the Dark Side and some surprisingly heart wrenching stories for Ahsoka, this feels like essential Star Wars content. Especially for fans of ‘The Clone Wars’. Some episodes are certainly better than others, but before I even start with this review I’ll say that this is definitely worth checking out. And, even better, it won’t take you much time to watch the whole thing! Let’s go over the ups and downs of ‘Tales of the Jedi’! SPOILERS AHEAD!

‘Life and Death’: This episode is definitely the most slow moving of the episodes. I really don’t think it should have been episode one, partly because of its pace and partly because of the feel of the episode. Instead of the serious angst we see in every other episode, this one is a wholesome story about Ahsoka as a baby. The focus of ‘Life and Death’ is very much the Togruta and not as much Ahsoka, herself. We get to see how a Togruta village would welcome a new baby. We get to see a hunting ritual that occurs during the first year of life of a Togruta baby. We even get to see the way a Togruta village might recognize a Jedi. It’s cute to see Ahsoka overcome death and tame a large beast, but the focus on Ahsoka isn’t really new ground they’ve decided to tread. Especially with all the baby Jedi content we’ve gotten from Grogu in ‘The Mandalorian’. The real draw is Ahsoka’s village, which might not be for everyone, but is at least interesting.

‘Justice’: ‘Justice’ starts off Dooku’s story with a bang. Here we get to see a fairly young Dooku and an even younger Qui-Gon Jinn enter a village that’s supposedly the location of the kidnapped child of a senator. I fully expected this short to demonstrate the first of Dooku being seduced by the Dark Side. But this episode fully establishes that Dooku has long already been suspicious of the senate and displays dark powers he shouldn’t possess. Though at first the episode feels like the two Jedi are there on behalf of the senator who’s looking for his son, the reveal that the townspeople all collectively kidnapped the senator’s son in protest of their mistreatment brings another reveal. Dooku isn’t there on behalf of the senate. They don’t even know he and Qui-Gon are there. From there we see Dooku sympathize with the townspeople and stand with them against the senator. He even goes as far as to force choke the senator nearly to death. Fortunately, Qui-Gon is able to trust the senator’s son to make peace and end the fight before the senator’s untimely death. You can’t help but agree with Dooku’s blatant mistrust of the very controlling senate, though. He takes his mistrust a step too far, but his ideals are valid. It showcases exactly what makes him such a compelling villain.

‘Choices’: This one further elaborates on Dooku’s mistrust of the senate, and by extension, the Jedi Order. But in this short it gets even more interesting simply because of the absence of Qui-Gon Jinn. Instead, Dooku gets paired off with Mace Windu, who is practically the face of Jedi corruption. Here the two hear of the death of a Jedi Master, and though Windu is reluctant to believe that the senator she died protecting might be suspicious, Dooku is convinced that something’s off. Throughout the entire short he presses Windu on his apparent lack of empathy for the Jedi Master due to his constant suggestion they abandon the investigation and report to the council. But when enough evidence is found to accuse the senator of lying, Dooku immediately plunges them into a fight that kills the senator. Even worse, it’s discovered that the senator isn’t the perpetrator. It’s his guards. Throughout the episode we see two Jedi’s of very opposite personalities at war. Mace Windu blindly follows the rules without empathy. But Dooku lets his empathy turn him away from even sensible rules and straight towards violence. At the end of the episode we see Dooku once again sympathizing with the underdog, the senator’s guards, who acted to protect their people from the corrupt senator. Their belief that the Jedi would blindly serve the senate hits Dooku hard because, clearly, it shows corruption in the Jedi Order. And that corruption is driven home when Windu gets the position on the council the fallen Jedi once occupied, making his reluctance to complete the investigation feel suspicious. Once again, Dooku’s clearly the most relatable party here.

‘The Sith Lord’: This is my least favorite Dooku short. When it started I thought it might be my favorite short overall. It starts with a really touching reunion between Dooku and a now grown-up Qui-Gon Jinn. They even mention Obi-Wan. And then it transitions straight to Dooku mourning Qui-Gon’s death. It’s really heartbreaking and feels like a breaking point for the character. But ultimately, they reveal Dooku already turned to the Dark Side before this. So instead of being the major character moment you think it’s going to be, the heart of the episode is Yaddle. Yaddle sees what Qui-Gon means to him and sympathizes with Dooku. She even relents that she knows he’s right about the corruption in the Jedi Order and wants to help him. But in trying to convince him to abandon the Dark Side, Yaddle is killed by Dooku. Dooku’s fall to the Dark Side feels less impactful than I wanted in this short, but it’s solid enough. And I love Bryce Dallas Howard as Yaddle.

‘Practice Makes Perfect’: I didn’t expect a short as simple as this one to be so sad, but damn does it catch you off guard. It starts with Ahsoka, early in her experience as Anakin’s Padawan judging by Obi-Wan’s mullet, completing a test. Anakin’s unsatisfied with the test though, and instead employs the help of Rex and the 501st to provide a more formidable test for Ahsoka to overcome. It’s cute to see how much Rex, the 501st, and Anakin care about Ahsoka’s training. It’s also fun to see how formidable Rex and his men can be when firing from all sides. But then we get to the point of all this lead-up. We flash forward to Ahsoka and Rex preparing to face the 501st during Order 66. It all leads up to one of the most tragic ‘Clone Wars’ episodes ever made. Damn Filoni. Just go ahead and make me cry.

‘Resolve’: This short feels the most like a full episode. I really liked that we began with Ahsoka mourning Padme at her funeral despite the potential danger to herself. We don’t get to see Ahsoka’s friendship with Padme a lot, but it was nice to see it paid tribute to. It’s also an excuse to get Bail Organa and Ahsoka in the same place so Bail can start to convince Ahsoka to continue fighting on behalf of the people standing against the emerging Empire. Ahsoka attempts to reject Bail’s offer by living a peaceful life, but it isn’t hard to see how that’s going to end. Ahsoka tries to hide that she’s a Jedi, saves someone using the force, is found out by an Empire sympathizer, the Empire sympathizer is shown through the cruelty of an Inquisitor that he’s not just wrong but also stupid, and Ahsoka has to save the day. In the end, of course, Ahsoka agrees to join the growing rebellion. It isn’t anything really special, but I still liked being able to see the moment where Ahsoka decided to join the rebellion.

Overall I felt the Dooku episodes were stronger than the Ahsoka episodes, but both were really fun to watch. And though I didn’t much like how the Dooku episodes ended, I still enjoyed everything that went into getting to that ending. These episodes detailed important moments we’ve never seen before in a way that was really enjoyable to watch. Each episode utilized its time so perfectly that none of them felt like shorts. Each felt like a full episode in its own right, and each earned its spot amongst the animated Star Wars content. I really hope Filoni does more of these with more characters. There’s so much that could be explored here and, regardless of the focus, I’m absolutely sure it’d be interesting to watch.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Comfort Entertainment: ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Unexpected Romance

Screenshot of Vax and Keyleth in ‘The Legend of Vox Machina’. Copyright goes to Critical Role and Amazon Prime.

Hi! It’s Annie!

As someone who has played D&D for only a little while now, I still don’t feel like I have a whole lot of experience. But what I will say is that between full campaigns and some partial campaigns, I actually have more experience with role playing romance in my games than I initially thought I might. I’m not the kind of person who goes in expecting my character to have a romantic relationship. I know people where romance within D&D is part of what makes the game fun for them. And that’s completely ok! Just like there are plenty of people out there who absolutely don’t want to roleplay romance at all and try to avoid it at all costs. (Ahem, Travis from ‘Critical Role’.) But I usually don’t care either way. I’ve had an even amount of characters end up in a relationship and stay single so far and I felt equally satisfied with all of the endings. Because those were the endings that felt right for those characters at the time. I honestly think that the absolute best D&D romances are the ones that nobody at the table was really expecting from the off. The ones that sort of developed out of nothing because of coincidence or a progression of a specific friendship. So I’m going to go through some of my own experiences with unexpected romantic relationships within the game and some of my favorite unexpected romances in the D&D that I watch. Specifically, ‘Critical Role’. MAJOR SPOILERS FOR CAMPAIGN ONE OF ‘CRITICAL ROLE’!!!

‘Critical Role’ Couples:

Percy and Vex (Unexpected on Both Sides)- I feel like all of the major romances in campaign one of ‘Critical Role’ were pretty unexpected from where the group started. Of course, there was a point with both where it became obvious. But I don’t feel that any of these romances were a given. Percy was absolutely set on revenge when we first meet him and was absolutely a tortured soul. And while both Vax and Vex seemed to keep to themselves in a way, Vex was definitely the more hostile of the two. It feels like we should have seen coming that the two would end up together with how distant they each kept themselves; but really nobody did. Especially not Laura and definitely not Taliesin. This reached a point where Percy had died within the game and Taliesin had already completed another character because he felt that even if they performed a resurrection on Percy, he would never consider coming back to the land of the living. The character that Taliesin actually created would eventually become Mollymauk Tealeaf in the second campaign of the show. Taliesin sat backstage while the others pleaded with Percy to come back to them, almost certain that nothing would make a difference. That was up until a crying Laura Bailey as Vex confessed her love to Percy. Not only was Taliesin not expecting the confession, but it also completely rewrote Percy’s fate.

Keyleth and Vax (Unexpected on One Side)- I think Liam knew what he was doing when Vax started really noticing Keyleth. And I think part of that was Liam attempting to give Keyleth the confidence and respect that she deserved. Vax already had something going with Gilmore that really could have been something bigger; but Keyleth was constantly undermining her own abilities while Marisha herself was still unsure of all that Keyleth could do. Which is so relatable when you’re first starting out in D&D. Liam was so sweet in trying to support Marisha and Keyleth in a way that eventually led to him suddenly realizing that Vax had feelings for Keyleth. This was such a pure, sweet, and innocent relationship that started from the absolute purest of intentions. In fact, they confirmed that Keyleth was most likely asexual and that their relationship kept with that. The progression of this relationship was also fairly slow because it was based off of how ready both characters were. Vax and Keyleth are definitely an iconic fictional couple. Very much goals! Except for the tragic ending part, of course.

My Experiences:

Unexpected Until it Wasn’t- I talked a little about this in my post about women playing support in gaming. That’s still one of my favorite posts I’ve ever written, so please go check it out if you haven’t! I had an incident where, as a healing main, my healing within the game was seen as something romantic to a male player. Not only did this make me uncomfortable, but it also put me in a love triangle (which I really dislike) because the guy who was trying to romance my character had already written himself a girlfriend in his backstory who was a major NPC within the game. While at first I wasn’t sure how to react, I eventually decided that there was no way the two female characters would not get along just because of a guy. That’s one of the worst tropes to come out of love triangles in major media. This began a huge friendship between the two female characters. Eventually as things with the guy character got more brooding and slightly frustrating; my DM (who is one of my best friends) half-jokingly suggested in a private conversation that the girls just end up together. And after a fancy party session where my character asked the NPC to dance while the guy was debating which one he would ask; that’s exactly what happened. This love triangle ended with the two girls together instead. Not only did everything seem to click together naturally after this decision was made, but it also eased my sense of uncomfortableness. I don’t think anyone could have predicted that the love triangle would end up that way, but it was glorious.

Unexpected by Pure Coincidence- In a completely different campaign, I was playing a character who was fighting her way to the throne in her own kingdom in a patriarchal society. In other words, I didn’t want her to get married or find a romance in any way partly because I didn’t want her to have a King. I was also playing a Cleric in this campaign and it was written in the story that my character would stop having contact with her goddess because of a mysterious reason. Instead of leaving it alone, she marched out of where the party were staying and visited the two major temples of other gods in the city in order to find some answers. While the first god (Death himself) wasn’t very forthcoming, she ended up having some luck in the second temple she visited. This was the temple of the god of torture and punishment in the afterlife. I ended up rolling two freak natural twenties which not only resulted in my character being able to speak with this god, but also being able to start a connection with him as she would have with her own god. After the gods started going to war in the campaign, she became worried about the only god she still had a connection to and implored him to stay safe. Somehow all of this resulted in my character, who I never wanted to romance anyone, accidentally romancing a god. This got especially complicated after she landed herself in an arranged marriage that the both of them were trying to undo. How the hell do you even romance a god?

I think anything you want to do with your character is right for you and your character. D&D is here for people to have fun. And if you feel you need a romance to have fun, or feel that a romance would ruin your fun; there is nothing wrong with putting a strong foot down. But I hope that something about this post will encourage D&D players to have an open mind. Especially new players because, as somebody with anxiety, it can be difficult to be new and just let things happen. Especially if you’ve been daydreaming of playing it for as long as I had before I started. But after watching campaigns and playing campaigns, I feel like some of the absolute best things to happen within the game will absolutely be unexpected. Whether it be an unexpected romance or a campaign you meant to be serious becoming more parody than anything else. Because that has happened to me too and it was amazing. It’s fun to see where things will go when there are multiple people telling a story and you never know what you’ll roll and when you’ll get that crit. Absolutely set firm boundaries; like how I should have by making sure my healing was seen as my party role rather than something romantic. But, definitely still have an open mind for whatever might happen at the table. Some of the best story points will be the ones that nobody, not even the DM, was expecting.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Studio Ghibli: What You Should Know After the Ghibli Park Opening

Screenshot of Mei and Satsuki’s house in ‘My Neighbor Totoro’. Copyright goes to Studio Ghibli.

Hey! Hallie here!

A while ago I made a post detailing everything we know about Ghibli Park, Studio Ghibli’s new theme park, and when everything will be open to the public. But now the park’s officially open which means we have plenty more to talk about! As I’ve said before, though the park has been opened, it isn’t completely finished. There are two large areas that aren’t complete. In fact, we won’t see the park completely open until next year. I’ll get into what that means in a little bit. That said, there are three sizable areas already open and the park’s first guests seemed to be impressed with what they saw. So let’s talk about what’s available to see now and what we can expect later.

What’s Currently Open:

There are three full areas that are completely open. These areas are Dondoko Forest, Springtime of Youth Hill, and Ghibli’s Giant Warehouse. Dondoko Forest was, at least partially, open to the public before. Guests could tour Mei and Satsuki’s house back when it was a lone fixture in Aichi Expo Memorial Park. It’s still there, and as detailed and screen-accurate as ever. Near the house you can also find their father’s bike, their water pump, and Satsuki’s hat and ear of corn sitting on a bench. Added to this area is a gorgeous staircase where acorns can be found placed around the area, all leading up to a giant, wooden Totoro statue. This area is breathtaking and, as promised, completely surrounded by trees. But be warned, it’s quite bit of a walk compared to how close the other locations are. It takes about ten minutes at a brisk pace to walk to this location, but you’re rewarded with pretty bridges and gorgeous greenery to accompany you along the way. Springtime of Youth Hill is the next. As promised, the ‘Castle in the Sky’ elevator tower is located here in all its steampunk glory. It’s also located at the entry to the park so you’ll be able to look over the entire park right when you come in thanks to the tower. Further in the Springtime of Youth Hill is the antique shop from ‘Whisper of the Heart’, which is another screen-accurate replica. Sadly, guests aren’t allowed to share what the inside looks like at the moment. Near the shop you can find the cat-sized Cat Bureau from ‘The Cat Returns’! Looking inside the windows will give you a full view of the Baron and Muta enjoying their tea inside the very cozy and extremely detailed house. Also nearby are Shizuku’s hat and book from ‘Whisper of the Heart’, as well as the tunnel she envisions in the film.

The biggest area currently open is ‘Ghibli’s Giant Warehouse’. There’s so much to see in this warehouse. There’s a theater that plays exclusive Ghibli shorts for the park. There’s a warehouse inside the warehouse full of old exhibits that were previously on display at various different locations. There’s a cafe apparently based on ‘Spirited Away’. You can sit inside the Catbus and feel its furry interior. You can visit a detailed recreation of Arrietty’s home including extremely large plants and her gorgeous bedroom. You can sit next to No-Face on the train. You can peak in on Yubaba doing some work at her desk. You can even walk up to one of the giant robots from ‘Castle In The Sky’ stuck into the wall. And, as promised, the Air Destroyer Goliath from ‘Castle in the Sky’ hovers overhead with moving elements to sell its realness. I should also note that the warehouse has by far the largest gift shop in the park, and one of the only gift shops to sell Ghibli related merchandise. The other locations in the park have merchandise with Ghibli nods, but they all focus more on selling something you’d be likely to see if you were to really visit the locations in Ghibli films. Because only the one store as of now carries the major Ghibli merchandise, the lines to check out have been hours long. Hopefully they expand the places to buy this kind of merch soon. Aside from the areas I already discussed, there’s one small area that has a ‘Spirited Away’ theming complete with the statue Chihiro encounters outside of the tunnel. But for your ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’, ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’, and ‘Princess Mononoke’ fixes, you’ll need to wait until 2023, or later if they do what many theme parks do and push it back, for ‘Witch Valley’ and ‘Princess Mononoke Village’ to open.

What to Expect Moving Forward:

At first the date given for the remaining areas in Ghibli Park was 2024, hence why I’m hesitant to believe in the newer date, but now they’re assuring us we’ll see the remaining locations by next year. In these locations we’ll see recreations of Kiki’s home, Howl’s Castle, and the entirety of Irontown. There have been some rumors that along with these we might see a teacup ride of some sort, as seen in the artist rendering, but I’m still wary about that. Which leads me to my next point. If you’re planning on visiting Ghibli Park and you’re expecting a regular theme park, I’d encourage you to approach this as if it’s a mix between a large museum and a large collection of gardens. This park isn’t going to have many rides, if any at all, because it would be against Miyazaki’s vision to tear down the already existing plant-life in the area to build Ghibli Park. To honor Miyazaki and the rest of the animation company’s loyalty to nature, every single location is surrounded by flowers and trees. It’s also why some locations take longer to walk to than others. Studio Ghibli has a strong environmentalist message in most of their movies, and as such, they weren’t going to tear anything down for guest convenience or for something as large as a theme park ride. This park instead focuses on immersion, and who wouldn’t want to be immersed in Ghibli?

That’s what we know so far! Currently you have to pay individually to get into each part of the park, but hopefully once it’s all open they’ll turn it into one payment. As more people go to the park and take videos and photos, whether allowed or not, we’ll be able to see what the park looks like more. For now I’ll dream of exploring Ghibli Park while I wait for the next two locations to open. I hope everyone who’s able to go there at the moment has a lot of fun and doesn’t have to wait too long to get their Ghibli merch. Because knowing me, I’d still wait two hours for really cute Ghibli merchandise.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop: ONEUS Going Forward

Screenshot of (from left) Son Dongju (Xion), Kim Gunhak (Leedo), and Lee Keonhee on Vlive. Copyright goes to ONEUS, RBW, and Vlive.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Sorry for the late post! So, a lot happened to this group recently and there’s a lot that I want to talk about and a lot that I really don’t so much. But I feel that some of it needs to be talked about because this group really deserves the publicity they were getting before all of this happened. The first thing, of course, is that if you at all were considering getting ONEUS tickets, they are on sale and these boys deserve to be supported. We don’t want the five remaining members to go under or not see support because of anyone’s mistakes. Whether you’re blaming the company themselves, the accuser, or even former members; the five remaining members don’t deserve for this to affect them. My sister and I got our tickets the minute they went on sale and I can’t believe how good our seats are. This is probably the closest I’m ever going to be to a K-Pop group and the fact that I’m seeing them, never mind that close, is still blowing my mind! But, that aside, there’s a lot of arguments over who is right, who is wrong, and how we should act towards the company and the group going forward. And I don’t want to get too involved in the argument. There’s a lot of straight up fighting going on that I really don’t want to get involved in, but I am going to talk about how we got here and maybe some things to consider going forward.

Ravn Leaving:

We already have a general news post where I discussed the allegations against Ravn. I’m sure everyone already knows anyways, so I’m not going to mention them again here. What I am going to say is that we’ve gotten an update to the investigation. This update said that they were essentially still investigating, but they had found that some (not all) of the evidence was fabricated. They were not specific so we don’t know what exactly they’re saying was proven wrong, but so far they did say they found “false information and malicious editing”. Not quite sure what that exactly means yet; but we’ll probably have to wait to really figure it out. If they even say. But we also know that Ravn has left the group officially amidst the allegations in order to not hurt the other members of the group with the continuing controversy. This is what the company says anyways. We know from experience that a company saying that a member left voluntarily is not always true. Either way, this leaves ONEUS without one of their major writers and composers. They do have other members who work on writing and a full team behind them as well, so hopefully they’ll be able to continue forward with strong and unique music. Contrary to what some believe, Ravn was not the leader. ONEUS decided not to have a leader and to split the responsibilities; which is an incredibly smart move considering how many current K-Pop leaders struggle with all the responsibility.

First World Tour:

ONEUS had planned to embark on their first official world tour before any of this happened and they are continuing on as scheduled. As excited as I am to see them, I think the members should have a little bit of a break before they move forward so much. This hit them hard very quickly and I doubt any of them have finished processing. However, I’ve seen several people say that because of decisions regarding the controversy, they are planning to boycott this tour. I think that’s a mistake. I understand being upset about this and it’s difficult to figure out how to express to the company the extent of your anger no matter what side of this argument you fall on. My opinion is this; the five members who will be touring do not deserve to be negatively impacted by any of this. And if people boycott their first world tour, no matter what happens, it could mean that they don’t get to do one after this. I think that they have enough popularity to get through this, but we shouldn’t just abandon them. And if you’ve decided to not go to their concert only because Ravn isn’t there and you think the group will be awful without him; that’s solo stan behavior. Each of these members are amazing on their own and amazing together in collaboration, and each of the other five will continue to be amazing. If, for example, Namjoon were to suddenly leave BTS, I wouldn’t cease to go their concerts. Because I absolutely love the other six members! Don’t be a solo stan!

Concert Etiquette:

I already see so much fighting, and also fighting specifically about how people should and should not act at the concerts coming up. Here’s my advice. Just have fun! They are doing these concerts to have fun with us and they will probably be a good distraction for them after everything that’s happened. We want to have fun with them and show them that we’re still there for them! There are people who are planning on wearing red roses to the concerts in honor of Ravn and that sounds like a great way to pay tribute! But please do not get into fights with TOMOON who might not be wearing the roses. And, on the other side of that, do not fight with the fans who are wearing the red roses. What I think both sides of this fandom is missing, is the fact that both sides of this argument are understandable and perfectly ok. If you have chosen to wait out the investigation and are wary of Ravn right now, that’s fine. If you are devastated by this and want to continue to support Ravn, that is also ok! This is a complicated situation and I can’t say that there’s a correct way to react. I think showing a little respect to each other at the concert is the best we can do. I don’t want to see any fans fighting at any of the concerts for any reason. And also, let’s not assume how the members are feeling and shout out anything regarding this situation unless the members seem to be ok with it or start it. Mentions of Ravn could make them feel sad and (wrongly) like they are incomplete without him, or they could make them feel comforted. I don’t mind keeping his name in the fan chants (unless, perhaps, the investigation ends very badly or the members say differently), but I do mind yelling at them while they’re on stage. Which honestly isn’t a thing we should be doing in general at concerts. Just, don’t harass them or yell things at them unless prompted. This should be a general concert rule anyways.

General Etiquette:

Respect the group as five. I’m not saying you have to completely accept the group as five; but you need to at least respect the group as five. What we don’t want to do is make them think that they will be forever incomplete in their careers. Mentioning that you still love Ravn could be very comforting! But asking them about Ravn in every fan sign, or them continuing to receive harassment about him, or interview questions about him, might make them think that we don’t respect the group anymore if he’s not in it. We saw this when Wonho left Monsta X and it not only affected the members of Monsta X, but it later also affected Wonho when he started his own solo career. Wonho has discussed how he doesn’t think that Monsta X should be constantly questioned about him and how he doesn’t want to be constantly questioned about Monsta X. Again, it is perfectly ok to not fully accept this right now. But you have to respect the group as five for the sake of the members. So be careful about the wording of the signs you bring to the concert. In fact, considering the small venues, please don’t bring signs at all and if you do please make them very small. Many of us will be sitting on a flat floor and we want to be able to see.

Update: Leedo in his ending ment for a recent concert asked fans to address the group as five from now on. This is the wish of all five members. Please respect their wishes.

This is a difficult time for ONEUS and TOMOON. But we can’t give up and we can’t stop supporting our boys. Let’s all be understanding of what they might be feeling and also what each member of TOMOON might be feeling. Because there’s been a lot of misunderstanding and fighting. Right now we have a scandal and toxic fandom behavior driving away potential new TOMOON. Let’s be welcoming and try to navigate this positively and warmly. Let’s be excited about their first world tour; because the boys deserve to be excited about their tour as well! I still can’t believe I’ll be seeing them so close! Leedo, that close!! Will I even survive???

See you cross the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

BTS: Jin and “The Astronaut”

Screenshot of Kim Seokjin (Jin) in his music video for his new single “The Astronaut”. Copyright goes to BIGHIT Music and Jin.

Hey! Hallie here!

Jin just released his highly anticipated solo track and collaboration with Coldplay, “The Astronaut”! He’s been talking about this solo project for a while now, and his recent reveal that he’d be working with someone he was close to and greatly admired led ARMYs to correctly guess that he was working on it with Coldplay. While he’s released solo tracks before, this one hits particularly hard for ARMYs. This is the last song that Jin will release before he enlists in the military, marking an almost two year absence. He also chose to make this song about his eternal love for ARMY, which 100% made me cry when I watched the music video. I have tons to talk about here, including the beautiful song, amazing MV, Jin performing the song live with Coldplay, and just my overall gratefulness for Jin. So, with the acceptance that this will likely be an emotional post, let’s get into it!

The Song:

This song is the perfect mix of Coldplay’s calming and cosmic sound mixed with the soulful, vocal focus that Jin goes for in his solo work. The song starts out with a calming guitar and background synth that feels very comforting and very Coldplay, but it doesn’t feel like the song is completely taken over by Coldplay. Once Jin’s vocals kick in we get a lot of Jin’s style. The synth quiets and we just get Jin’s gorgeous vocals paired with guitar, which easily fits in with Jin’s love of ballads. This song sounds more lighthearted than some of his other ballads with the bouncier guitar and verses, but the chorus, which brings back the synth in full addictive force, has so much power and emotion that it can easily bring you to tears as much as any of his other solo songs. Throughout parts of the song you can hear Chris Martin’s powerful vocals in the background, never overtaking Jin’s but adding a depth and even urgency to the chorus and verses that is much appreciated. As for the lyrics, they convey an unending love for someone that’s similar to paradise for Jin. Something so strong that his devotion for them overcomes everything else and provides him hope when he feels lost. And Jin already confirmed that the someone he’s directing this love to, is all of ARMYs. Jin said this song invokes an astronaut who crashes down on Earth and decides to stay to be with his loved ones. Jin is, of course, the astronaut. Hurtling through space, sometimes feeling alone and lost. And ARMY is the family he found that he wishes to stay with. It’s so touching, and so well conveyed in both the large amount of Korean and English that this song includes. This is a masterpiece. I’m in complete awe of both Jin and Coldplay for the pure magic in this song.

The MV:

This is such a cute MV, but before I get fully into it I want to talk about the sets. Because some of these sets are very obviously in LA, and as a Universal Studios Hollywood passholder, I can tell when the Universal lots are being used. So imagine my shock when I recognized both Wisteria Lane and New York Street, large permanent sets on the Universal lot, in this MV. I’m actually so angry at myself now. He was at a place I frequent and I never even got a hint of his presence. But I digress. This MV tells a pretty cohesive story. It starts out with Jin in a field looking at a spaceship. From there we see Jin in what looks like a childhood bedroom. He even has drawings of himself as an astronaut with his name on them. All of this reveals to us that Jin is the astronaut from his concept. He crashed down on Earth in his spaceship. But he doesn’t seem happy overall to be back in his childhood bedroom. Also, note his crossword puzzle where he’s filled in “ARMY”, a tribute to the fans, and “Moon”, a particularly influential solo song he released. On his TV a reporter (Hello, Chris Martin!) reports on a beam of light outside that we later see coming from the spaceship, essentially calling Jin back to it. But he ignores it, instead going out to help a little girl learn to ride her bike.

As the MV goes on we see Jin walking down a city street looking very alone. At one point he catches his reflection in the helmet of an astronaut, which solidifies his somber attitude. But when he spends time with the little girl, taking pictures with her, drawing with her, and looking very proud when she learns to ride her bike, his somberness seems to melt away. Finally, Jin lets the spaceship fly away. In a few shots we see him hitching a ride away from the site, finally smiling, and a picture he’s drawn of Earth with the word “home” next to it. At the very end of the MV he fills the word “family” into his crossword, gives the camera the most radiant smile I’ve ever seen, and leaves to play with the little girl on her bike again. It’s the story of the astronaut who decides to stay on Earth, but here we see Jin struggle with loneliness and depression over the aimlessness that he’s felt. But then we see him spend time with this little girl, who appears to be the stand-in for ARMY, and his pride in her and joy in spending time with her becomes a new purpose for him. It’s such a touching MV that I love more and more with each watch.

Jin and Performing with Coldplay:

Jin needs an entire section to himself. Obviously. To get the superficial out of the way, Jin looked incredible in this MV. From the cozy sweater to the well-fitted suit, I’d say he had some of his best MV looks here. And his long hair looks adorable on him. But yes, Jin is leaving. Obviously he won’t be gone for that long of a period, and he won’t be doing anything dangerous within the military. All members of BTS are far more likely to be given promotional or background work because of their large status in South Korea. But we still won’t see as much of him as we usually do during that time. I’m both incredibly proud and incredibly sad about it. Jin wanted to enlist. When his enlistment date was pushed back a little bit ago, he reaffirmed to the public that he didn’t want to be exempt. He even said that he was frustrated with people on the internet for bashing him about not wanting to go because he had every intention of going. Politely, screw those people. I’m so proud of BTS, and Jin, for finally putting their foot down in this dance the government has been doing around BTS’s enlistment by deciding to go themselves. But I’ll miss him. Today Jin got to perform his song with Coldplay as well, which marked his last live performance before he goes off. It was a mind-blowing performance with incredible live vocals. Chris Martin is a lovely soul and the way he interacted with Jin was so welcoming. The hug they shared onstage was beautiful, and though I loved how Jin shared the mic with Chris, I loved even more that Chris encouraged Jin to take the whole stage for himself. He’s said this song was more of a gift to Jin than a collaboration, and you could feel that affection for Jin. Just as much as you could feel Jin’s adoration for Coldplay, a group he’s loved for a very long time. I really can’t wait until they fully release the performance on YouTube!

Jin taking his last project before his enlistment to show his love for ARMY is making me bawl. Full on ugly cry. He’s always been really open about his depression and how influential ARMY has been on him during his dark points. He has so much love for ARMY, and as an ARMY who’s been comforted through my own depression by Jin, I can confidently say we reciprocate that love fully. There’s a connection between ARMY and BTS that feels unyielding. Jin has used so much of his career, not just here but in songs like “Moon” too, to thank us for that bond. And I can’t express how much I want to thank him for it as well. Between creating the series ‘Eat Jin’ for people who struggle with eating disorders, to making some of the funniest jokes I’ve ever heard, he’s a presence I won’t forget. We love you Jin! We’ll be waiting for you!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Books: ‘Harry Potter’ Things Fans (Mostly) Made Ok

Screenshot of (from left) Tom Felton and Emma Watson in ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’. Copyright goes to Warner Bros.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I absolutely love ‘Harry Potter’, particularly the movies now because the writing and the author of the books are obviously extremely problematic. I have stopped buying merch and I really implore everyone reading to do the same. But because I’m more of a fan of the way the movies and actors brought the characters and world to life (and not the things the author wrote or voiced), I’m more ok with things within the fandom that I wasn’t before. This is only because people in the fandom have made these things ok or the actors gave me a new perspective. The fandom has made countless things within this fandom better. Including making people feel wanted and offering a sense of belonging, even between houses that were pitted against each other in the books. So, I’m going to get into the things that the fandom has made better for me that I may have disliked before. MAJOR SPOILERS ahead!!! I also won’t be talking about how fans made the house system better because we already have a full post on that!

Draco Malfoy:

I used to absolutely hate Draco for the way that he treated particularly Harry and Hermione. He reminded me of a bully that I had when I was in school and he always did little more than disgust me every time he appeared. I rejoiced when Barty Crouch Jr., disguised as Mad-Eye Moody, transformed Draco into a ferret. He was a presence that I absolutely couldn’t stand. As someone who is older than High School age, now working sometimes at a High School, and looking back at my own years, I see Draco in a very different light. He was a child brought up by awful parents and constantly spewing everything that he heard at home. Something you get from children of all ages. And while this by no means exempts him from what he did say, I think Draco was well on his way to making some form of turn around. After all, he didn’t give away Harry and his friends in the seventh book or movie and he ended up not being at all able to kill Dumbledore. I think Draco deserved to have a redemption arc. He deserved to be the example of people who have done bad things that can change. I’ve also been more inclined towards Draco since I’ve started following the career of Tom Felton, who is a major feminist and very sweet. Was Draco a nasty little weasel in his school years? Yes. But I don’t feel that this means he cannot be redeemed. It’s a shame that the scene where he throws Harry his wand in the final movie ended up on the cutting room floor. Draco was one of the only children of the Death Eaters who actually ended up questioning his parents because he knew what it was like to be under Voldemort’s thumb. I feel that should have been given more time.

Hermione and Draco:

When it comes to canon, I’ve said before that I pretty much hate this couple. For years I couldn’t fathom someone ending up with somebody who bullied them. And, honestly, in a way I still can’t. After everything Draco did to Hermione it feels odd. But there are a couple things that can change my mind about this, depending on the situation. Firstly, when people suggest they might have happened in the future, I like the idea of them much more! I’m not as big of a fan of suggestions that they may have dated during their time at Hogwarts before the war, because that feels awful and not realistic for their characters at all. But a lot can happen in the years after you leave school and it also gives Draco time to mature. The other reason that made me start to see this couple as possible is the close relationship between Emma Watson and Tom Felton. Up until the last couple of years, I don’t think the public really understood just how close Emma and Tom have always been. Tom’s friendship was important to Emma on set when she felt like she had no one on her side, and Emma has now helped Tom tell his story through his new autobiography. I think we all swooned just a little when we saw the reunion between Emma and Tom in the recent special. Their friendship is cute, and it makes you almost want at least a friendship between Hermione and Draco. Even if it does happen sometime in the far future. If you still aren’t convinced, I highly recommend watching the behind the scenes footage of them filming the Yule Ball segment in ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’. Watching Tom and Emma dance together is beyond adorable! Most fanfiction writers actually make Draco way more respectful of Hermione and her intelligence than Ron ever was anyways! There’s also the added bonus that Rowling probably hates this ship.

Percy Weasley:

Percy was another character that I used to not be able to stand whatsoever. I have several times said that I wish Percy would have died to complete a redemption arc rather than Fred. While I still don’t think Fred should have died and I think that this would be better plot wise, I don’t dislike Percy as much as I used to nor am I as convinced that he should have died. I think the dislike of Percy comes from the fact that everyone knows a Percy. Somebody who doesn’t like to be wrong, always believes that they are the smartest person in the room, and takes constant pleasure in telling other people that they are wrong without having the knowledge to support that assumption. Percy is a character who is personal to all of us in a not very pleasant way. But the behavior that Percy exhibits is also a universal sign of feeling inadequate and insecure. And Percy actually has every reason to feel insecure. Molly Weasley is an absolute jerk and I feel like only some people are beginning to notice this. Yes, Molly is very sweet for taking in Harry. But Molly also constantly compares her children, has favorite children, is an absolute monster-in-law to Fleur, makes baseless accusations against Sirius because she gets jealous over Harry, mistreats Hermione for a lie written in the paper, and is a relentless gossip. Percy grew up being compared to perfect Bill and Charlie. He is relentlessly teased by his siblings for boasting the only accomplishment he perceives himself to have. (Though I understand why Fred and George do it and honestly don’t blame them.) Percy is still annoying, but you can’t really blame him. And I am absolutely in love, like plenty of other fans, with the fact that Oliver and Percy were probably roommates. Can you imagine the chaos? Fans were completely right to point out how rough Percy has had it. And why Percy deserves our love far more than Molly.

Fans have pointed out how characters like Sirius, Draco, Percy, Lavender Brown, and Fleur are characters that deserve some empathy and respect after having been widely disliked. Sirius never did anything but try to help his Godson (who he did not think was James), Draco actually was changing by the time the book ended, Percy was understandably insecure, Lavender was just a naive teenage girl who never actually hurt anyone, and Fleur absolutely cared about Bill and never should have been doubted by the family in the way she was. But characters like Molly, James, Dumbledore, Ron, and Snape are all incredibly messed up and are far less deserving of all the love they get. Molly was a choosy mother, James was a straight up bully, Dumbledore used Harry and many others without showing much regret, Ron bullied Hermione perhaps even more than Draco (and his brand of bullying was seen as ok), and Snape was a straight up abusive teacher. While none of these things change the events of the books or movies, they are amazing conversations to have that have actually made me feel more welcome in the fandom. So, once again, I want to thank the fans for making this fandom what it is. It was never Rowling that made this fandom amazing, it was always the fans.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Sci-Fi: ‘Doctor Who’ and David Tennant

Screenshot of David Tennant as the Doctor in ‘The Power of the Doctor’. Copyright goes to the BBC and Bad Wolf.

Hey! Hallie here!

Hopefully everyone who sees this post has actually seen ‘The Power of the Doctor’, or in the very least, knows the role Tennant played in said episode. Because already, the screenshot above is a huge spoiler. So right off the bat, MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! Seriously, do not read this unless you’re caught up on ‘Doctor Who’. We haven’t talked about ‘Doctor Who’ much on this blog. This was one of Annie and I’s biggest obsessions in high school, but Moffat’s era of ‘Doctor Who’ slowly drove us away. I’ve still really loved this series since then, and I’m prone to constantly revisiting the Tenth Doctor’s seasons particularly, so this regeneration definitely didn’t fly under my radar. David Tennant is back! And he’s also been named the official Fourteenth Doctor which will last through a three-parter that airs in November…of 2023. So yeah, unfortunately we have more than a year until ‘Doctor Who’ returns. But in the meantime David Tennant is promised to be our lead in to our official new Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa. So in honor of Tennant’s return to ‘Doctor Who’, let’s dive into Ten’s return as well as why Tennant’s Doctor is still the best Doctor the series has ever seen.

The Best Doctor:

David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor was a breath of fresh air after Nine. That isn’t to say Nine was bad. Nine was a very interesting Doctor that perfectly suited the re-introduction of the series. But Nine was also a Doctor burdened by the recent loss of the Time Lords. One who very often struggled to show empathy, and struggled with the shift between his childlike excitement for something new and his almost bloodthirsty anger for what happened to Gallifrey. Ten was instantly charming when he arrived, not just because he looked more approachable, but because he wasn’t the snappy, cagey Doctor we had seen. He was delighted by chaos but with an empathy that was so much fiercer than Nine’s. He still carried a lot of pain, but he made such a point of bringing happiness to everyone around him that it mattered so much more when that pain came through. And though his judgement could be swift and sometimes cruel, he ultimately understood why humans were better than him in that regard and was amazed by them for it. David Tennant’s acting also greatly contributed to the likability of Ten. Tennant could deliver fast, witty dialogue better than any actor who’s been the Doctor before or since. He was effortlessly funny and delivered the Doctor’s monologues with seamless brilliance. These things have become a staple of the Doctor, but David Tennant was the first to perfect this characteristic and, in my opinion, remains to be the best. Ten felt safe, warm, intelligent, and sometimes terrible, all because of Tennant’s amazing acting. He played each element of the Doctor so perfectly, he’s become most people’s favorite Doctor. And that’s for a very good reason.

Why He Deserves to Return:

While I very obviously think David Tennant is the clear choice for the best Doctor, that doesn’t always mean that fan favorite actors should return. Especially after they’ve closed out their character’s story in a satisfying way. But while I do think Ten’s story was satisfying as it was, I think there’s still room to expand on it. Tennant’s Doctor left at a very turbulent point of his existence, more so than any of the other Doctors we’ve seen in New Who. Ten was in the middle of an entire existential crisis that put the Doctor at his most terrifying right before his regeneration. He had seen hints that he would regenerate for a while, but he became convinced that he could outrun it. Pair that with the Doctor losing contact with Rose and then having to wipe Donna’s memory, and you had a Doctor wracked with grief and determined to stop time from taking anything else from him. And thus we had the “Time Lord Victorious”, a name the Doctor adopted when he decided that, as the last of the Time Lords and the technical “winner” of the Time War, he should be allowed to control time itself. Of course, he found he couldn’t outrun his regeneration. Especially after he realized that it would not be brought on by a large event, but simply by saving someone he cared for very much, Donna’s grandfather Wilf. As he regenerated he famously uttered the words “I don’t want to go,” ending his story on the extremely somber note of the Doctor realizing how much he feared his own regeneration. Now we have the opportunity to get closure for both him, and his last companion Donna. Given how much happier or more peaceful other regenerations have been, I think Ten deserves to come to terms with his regeneration and put this part of the Doctor fully to rest.

Speculation About His Return:

Let’s be honest, though I do think Ten deserves more closure, I think there’s more to Tennant’s return than just the opportunity to give Ten a more peaceful ending. David Tennant is the most popular Doctor from ‘Doctor Who’. So if ‘Doctor Who’ is going to take more than a year off to get its new seasons together, they need something really good to keep fans on board for the amount of time they won’t be receiving content. David Tennant is the perfect person to bring in those fans. As is Catherine Tate, who’ll be returning as Donna. The companions don’t have as clear-cut of a favorite amongst fans beyond Sarah Jane, but all fans can agree that Donna had the saddest ending of any companion. She didn’t die or face any grievous harm, but her character basically reset to the way she was before she met the Doctor. She had gone through so much character growth and had become a close friend to the Doctor, and she ended the story with no memories of her best friend and all that growth completely wiped from her memory. As I said before, she also deserves closure and audiences have been wanting to see that closure for a long time. And bringing back both David Tennant and Catherine Tate gives fans the opportunity to remember why we loved Russel T. Davies so much before diving into his new content. It almost works as an advertisement for his return. That said, I have questions about Ten and Donna’s comeback. If David Tennant is being declared the Fourteenth Doctor, does that mean this version is slightly different from Ten and merely shares Ten’s characteristics? Or will this basically be a resurgence of Ten? And will we see Donna get her memories back? Or will she just be along for the ride as she was in her first episode? Clearly I’m expecting us to essentially get the old Ten and Donna back, for nostalgia’s sake if nothing else, but these are strange circumstances.

There’s so much of the three part special to look forward to. There’s the return of characters we love. There’s the promise of a new, mysterious figure named Rose. And there’s a new, exciting Doctor played by the brilliant Ncuti Gatwa. Of course, we’ll also be able to see Bernard Cribbins once more since his death reprising Wilf. It seems so far away but I’m already excited for it! All they had to do was a throw back to the Doctor noticing his teeth first and I knew I’d wait any amount of time to see Tennant’s return. Between this and ‘Good Omens 2’, 2023 really is an amazing year for Tennant fans.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop: No More After This, Ok?

Screenshot image of (from left) Jung Hoseok, Min Yoongi, and Kim Namjoon performing alongside backup dancers in Busan. Copyright goes to Weverse, HYBE, and BTS.

Hi! It’s Annie!

So I’ve been waiting until the end of this week to post this in case anything new came out. At the same time, I’ve been more or less keeping off of social media because it’s been like a war zone. Not long after I posted my last K-Pop news post, even more news blew up. And that has only continued throughout the week. I had prepared my ‘Parasocial Relationships’ post ahead of time, so I hadn’t even realized how relevant it would be by the time of actually posting it. But, like many, the news over the past few weeks has been exhausting to me. I don’t think I’ve seen so many situations blow up one after the other in this way since I started becoming a K-Pop fan. And though we do get the occasional blow up, usually we also get a while of break. I’m hoping this while of break will come up soon because we need it. But, to help even out some of the other news, I will bring up some more happy news to try and keep things a little lighter. Anyways, I’m going to get into the K-Pop news! And this is your TRIGGER WARNING: the first story I will talk about does contain abuse.

ONEUS and Ravn:

If you haven’t heard of the group ONEUS, go ahead and check out our recent post on them! Not only is their music absolutely beautiful and unique, but they are also one of the most underrated groups in K-Pop right now and the other members don’t deserve to be taken down because of the potential actions of one person. That aside, the allegations against the eldest member Ravn are pretty intense. Not all that long ago, a netizen claiming to be Ravn’s ex-girlfriend claimed that Ravn was a regular womanizer, an abuser, and a cheater. She claimed that he threatened her life during an argument that she had apparent audio footage of. She also accused him of cheating on her with several women and having a known reputation with women that is kept hidden from the public. Just to make things more understandable for people living in America, things like womanizing, though not illegal, are more serious allegations in South Korea than they would be here. As is cheating, which is hard to fathom considering how much the internet has been blowing up lately about American celebrities cheating. But, while those allegations are still not good in any possible way, the most important allegations here are the ones of abuse. The company claims that they are currently looking into the validity of it. Some people claim that the video and audio footage are faked and that the woman is a sasaeng stalker. One building the woman claimed to be her home looked much like ONEUS’s old dorm, but it’s hard to tell. There seems to be no current conclusive evidence either way and I’m sure we’ll receive an answer soon. This is too much in the public eye for the company to just brush it off, fortunately. The controversy around Ravn only grew when netizens found him seemingly begging fans for expensive gifts. Such as getting him a plaque on a park bench at a popular park, or mentioning expensive items that he claimed he could not go to the sale of. Though this is not illegal, it does feel pretty slimy and I have no idea why he would do that. We’ll have to see how this ends up, I’m personally really confused about the situation and don’t want to give too many of my own opinions. I believe that victims deserve to be heard, but after the major bullying scandal last year where several artists were targeted, it feels as though it’s really difficult to tell what is real. Especially with everyone weighing in with their opinions.

The asking for gifts thing still makes me uncomfortable; but that aside, I want to stress that this is not an opportunity to withdraw your support from ONEUS. Even if Ravn did do all he was accused of; the other members had no part in that. There are five other members of this group who are probably going through a really rough time right now and deserve our support. You can withdraw your current support of Ravn without withdrawing your support from ONEUS. Anyways, Ravn has been withdrawn from all future activities until this is completely sorted out. They are even marketing their tour with only pictures of the five members. I also want to stress that now is not the time to shame ONEUS or their company for not supporting Ravn. I understand it’s difficult if he was your bias or you were really attached to him, but just like we can’t assume that he’s guilty, we should not also assume that he’s innocent. Be supportive of the company actually responding well and making sure they do their jobs and look into the allegations. And also be supportive of the group getting through in the way they need to right now with only five members.

BTS Military Enlistment:

This is probably the most widespread news. This was even covered on news channels who accidentally used pictures of groups that weren’t even BTS (I am not kidding about this). BTS officially announced that they will be enlisting in the military. This was after the government once again extended the date of when they would decide if Jin should go, which was most likely done so that they wouldn’t end up having to decide and make an enemy of anyone. BTS did announce that they would all be going essentially at the same time. Jin will release a single before going first and then the others with all enter over the course of several months based around the releases of their own individual work. But, by this time next year, they will all be in the military most likely. Though this is disappointing and sets a precedent that South Korea does not apparently view K-Pop as being as important as classical music despite the money it makes them; I am proud of BTS for making this decision. Not only have they once again shown themselves to be humble kings, but they took the decision into their own hands and singlehandedly ended the drama. There have most likely been negotiations going on behind the scenes as well about their service as we already know it won’t look like most mandatory military service. They have already been given explicit permission to perform and do activities while they serve; something that has been looked down on and strictly dealt with in the past. But considering how many billions of dollars South Korea currently stands to lose by sending BTS to serve, this is probably because they are hoping to cut their losses as much as possible. And because they are all going around the same time, they’ll be back as OT7 before we all know it!

Disappointing Releases:

The other blow up that has been currently happening in K-Pop is widespread disappointment over some recent releases. This has been specifically targeted at girl groups such as Black Pink and ITZY. Despite being the current top girl groups, neither of their recent releases were met with positivity from either critics or fans. This has caused more fan wars as fans try to defend their groups by pointing to other groups as being worse or defending the released song itself. I can’t say I completely stan any of the groups currently involved in this controversy, so I am really looking at this from an outside perspective. But I guess we’ll see how it goes! I know that more worry has stemmed because of BTS going into the military. Many are worried that the general public will turn away from K-Pop, especially when releases from larger groups flop in this way. I would personally like to think that K-Pop has been pulled enough into the public eye to more than survive this. More and more groups are getting much higher numbers of international fans. But really, only time will tell if K-Pop will remain in the eye of the general public. I know for a fact that I’m not leaving it any time soon!

ATEEZ Japan Comeback:

Here’s some of the happy news, along with ONEUS’s tour which I’m hoping to see in February! ATEEZ has officially announced a new Japanese comeback. Though we don’t have a track list yet, the promotional photo released today looked fantastic! I just hope that they get some rest soon because it really does seem like they’ve been releasing content nonstop for too long at this point.

I know some of the information and news is scary, but really all of this is only temporary. I don’t think we’re going to see the destruction of any of these groups because of a lack of popularity any time soon. I personally believe that all of these groups will come back stronger and better and we, as fans, just need to stick it out with them! There is still hope!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Studio Ghibli: Which Couples Would Actually Stay Together?

Screenshot of Sophie and Howl from ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’. Copyright goes to Studio Ghibli.

Hey! Hallie here!

Studio Ghibli movies are films I constantly return to, especially when I’m in the mood for comforting entertainment. This week has made that especially true, both because it’s been a rough week for me and because it’s finally getting cool enough to get me in the mood for some of my more cozy Fall traditions. So today I’m looking back at some of my favorite Ghibli films to see whether or not the romantic couples we’ve seen in these movies would last beyond their time on screen. We’ve done a similar post on Disney couples in the past, but this one will be a bit different. Namely, not all of these couples have been confirmed to be romantically involved. Miyazaki has always been much more focused on crafting strong friendships between characters that could or could not be interpreted as romantic. This is especially true when it comes to child characters. So know going forward that while all these couples could be interpreted as romantic, I’ll be talking just as much about whether a friendship would last between some of them. Also, if for any reason you want to avoid plot points for any of these movies, SPOILERS AHEAD!

Shizuku and Seiji, ‘Whisper of the Heart’: This is one of the Ghibli movies where the romance is pretty obvious. While Shizuku and Seiji are still pretty young, the entire story is about the two developing their crush on one another through supporting each other. They even promise themselves to each other at the end of the movie, though they do so because they decide to spend the near future apart. While their romance would be easy to scoff at given that these two are both still very young, the entire movie’s goal seems to be to prove the credibility of their relationship. They do start out their relationship with immaturity. Shizuku initially finds Seiji infuriating because he specifically goes out of his way to insult or irritate her, meanwhile he also checks out books before she can though she doesn’t know it’s him at first. But as the relationship goes on they very quickly put these first awkward moments behind them. Shizuku discovers that Seiji has a passion for making violins, admires him for it, and decides that she should also have something that she’s passionate about to ensure that she can come to a relationship with Seiji as a fully-developed person. We rarely see romances in media address the idea that the healthiest romances occur between two fully-formed individuals rather than two people who “complete” one another. It’s so nice to see something like this in ‘Whisper of the Heart’. And while I wouldn’t say their relationship is fully developed by the end of the movie, there’s certainly hope for the future. There’s even a moment at the end of the film where Seiji attempts to ride his bike up a hill with Shizuku on it to prove to her that he can support her, but she instead hops off and helps push the bike to prove to him that she can be just as supportive in their relationship.

Final Verdict: Yes. They will definitely last once they actually get together.

Pazu and Sheeta, ‘Castle in the Sky’: These two are left pretty ambiguous over whether or not they’re a couple by the end of the movie, but there are definitely parts of the film where it feels like they care about each other romantically. Pazu most certainly has a crush on Sheeta the moment that he meets her, and he puts everything on the line to protect her. Unfortunately, Sheeta isn’t quite the hero that other Studio Ghibli heroines are. She very often plays the damsel in distress, which makes it feel like Pazu contributes much more to their relationship. I’m not saying Sheeta’s completely useless. Pazu is the one to help Sheeta escape from pirates and rescues her from the clutches of Muska not once, but twice. But Sheeta also plays a role in the defeat of Muska and does all she can to keep Pazu out of harms way, although admittedly sending Pazu away wasn’t the most effective way to protect him. In any case, both spend a lot of the movie trying to keep each other from harm. This relationship definitely reads as though Pazu is more interested in Sheeta than Sheeta is in Pazu, though. While he’s invested in finding Laputa because of his father, he’s much more devoted to helping Sheeta realize her goals and stay away from the people who might hurt her. Meanwhile, Sheeta’s definitely most interested in finding out what she can about her ancestors. Pazu is a supportive and sweet potential partner for Sheeta, but Sheeta doesn’t really prove she’d be a great partner in turn.

Final Verdict: A solid maybe. I’d like to believe Pazu deserves someone just as excited about him as he is about them, though.

Ponyo and Sosuke, ‘Ponyo’: These two are extremely little kids. As such, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that they have romantic feelings for each other. They clearly care about one another a lot. Their mothers obviously seem to think they’ll get together at some point in the future. But while I find the way that Sosuke looks after Ponyo endearing, or the way Ponyo fights against her father in order to get to Sosuke heartwarming, they’re really little. They love each other in the same way many little kids love their friends. I can absolutely see them continuing to look after each other in the future. But especially since the movie ends with their mothers agreeing that Ponyo will now live with Sosuke and his mom, it sounds much more like the two are being set up to be raised as siblings. And their love for each other could just as easily turn into a sibling-like love.

Final Verdict: It’s hard to determine, but I’m going to say not as a couple. They would stay together as friends, though! I think it’s more likely they’ll end up sibling-like.

Chihiro and Haku, ‘Spirited Away’: Chihiro is quite young, though nowhere near as young as Ponyo or Sosuke. Haku, as a spirit of the river, is pretty much ageless. There are definitely moments in this movie where it feels like they may have romantic feelings for each other, but they could just as easily be friends. They do very clearly care for each other. Haku risks his existence at the very beginning of the movie to protect Chihiro from the other spirits and get her a job. And Chihiro spends much of the last half of the movie healing Haku’s wounds, worrying about him, and helping him escape Yubaba. They’re very gentle with each other and very cute together. But she’s a kid. And he’s the spirit of a river she once got swept away in as an even younger child. I love these two, but they can’t even see each other unless Chihiro rather unfortunately stumbles into the spirit realm, or Haku rather metaphorically appears to Chihiro in the living world.

Final Verdict: No. I think their determination to keep in contact would make them good friends, though!

Kiki and Tombo, ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’: Tombo and Kiki very obviously have crushes on one another. Tombo takes large chunks out of his day to try to cross paths with Kiki. He often ditches his friends just so he can spend the day with her. He asks her how her work days are and worries about her when she falls sick. When he invites her to a party, he has literally no hard feelings over the fact that it turns out she can’t make it. Tombo is completely smitten and in awe of her. Kiki’s much more subtle about her crush. She initially finds Tombo’s constant desire to be around her kind of irritating, but whenever pressed about him she would instantly start blushing. She also accepted his invitation to a party immediately despite having expressed irritation with him only days beforehand. And, of course, there’s something to be said about the fact that Kiki drops everything at the end of the movie to rescue Tombo, and even finds within herself the ability to fly once more after weeks of losing her magical abilities, in order to save him. In the future I do think Tombo would have to be a little less doting in order to keep Kiki comfortable in the relationship. He’d also have to get rid of so many of his friends because, oh my gosh, how can you listen to the way your douchebag friends talk to your crush and not intervene? But, in the end, I think they’d be able to work something out.

Final Verdict: It would take some work, but yes!

Haru and Baron, ‘The Cat Returns’: Haru admits she has a crush on the Baron, but whether or not those feelings are reciprocated is never revealed in the movie. As a pretty low-stakes movie, I can’t say there’s a ton of examples of these two showing care for each other under extreme circumstances. The Baron does protect Haru a few times from the King’s forces in the Cat Kingdom, leading to some romantic moments where he carries her bridal style through a chase scene or steps in front of her during a sword fight. But really, it’s up to Haru to find self confidence in order to escape the Cat Kingdom and stop herself from turning into a cat. And in the moments where the Baron helps her out, like when he manages to sneak into the castle to dance with her and remind her who she really is, the Baron really only sees himself as being helpful or heroic. It’s Haru who perceives these things as romantic. And can you blame her? The English voice for the Baron is Cary Elwes! Who wouldn’t fall in love? By the end of the movie Haru tells the Baron that she’s developed a crush on him, but his only response is that he admires a woman who speaks her mind. Which really isn’t an answer. Maybe the Baron just knows humans and cats shouldn’t be in a relationship.

Final Verdict: No. But thank you, Cary Elwes, for making me have a crush on a cat.

Ashitaka and San, ‘Princess Mononoke’: Ashitaka and San are another couple where it isn’t completely clear whether or not their relationship is romantic or platonic by the end of the film. That said, there is evidence that seems to point to a more romantic relationship. For one, there’s their first real interaction, where San nearly kills Ashitaka but stops when he comments that she’s beautiful. From that moment on the two place a lot of trust in one another. They place their lives in each other’s hands on multiple occasions and both deliver at keeping each other safe. Ashitaka, as the wisest party in the story and as the hero, is given more moments to protect and help San. He saves her from being corrupted, stops her from getting into a deadly fight with Eboshi, and consoles her when Moro, her adoptive mother, dies. But, in turn, San helps Ashitaka see the importance of keeping the forest and the spirits inside safe. Unlike with other couples on this list, these two don’t feel like they help each other because of major crushes or undying devotion. Instead, the two have a lot of respect for one another in the way a healthy couple would respect each other. At the end of the movie the two separate, with San going back to help nurture the forest and Ashitaka helping out the humans with the promise that he’ll return to San and the forest. But even this separation feels like a mature relationship in action, with both parties having clear paths that are different from one another (We’re back to the concept of two people complimenting each other rather than completing each other), but knowing they care about each other enough to come back together.

Final Verdict: Absolutely. Their relationship is amazing, especially for one that just started.

Howl and Sophie, ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’: Yes, I saved my favorite one for last. Howl and Sophie are the most blatantly romantic couple in all of Studio Ghibli. They have one of the only kiss scenes in any of Studio Ghibli’s films. But the fact that they’re an obvious romantic couple doesn’t instantly make them good, so let’s look into this more. Sophie starts out extremely exasperated by Howl. Howl’s selfish and shows himself capable of easily insulting others without even noticing he’s doing so. He also gets in the habit of throwing dramatic temper tantrums, resulting in one of the only scenes where Sophie gets so angry at him that she leaves to cry. But Howl’s well meaning, and Sophie knows this. The very first time he meets her he saves her from some men who are heckling her in the street, and whenever he sends her out to do something dangerous, such as sending her to the castle to talk them out of recruiting Howl for the war, he never sends her without protection. In fact, he goes himself to ensure she remains safe. He even gets over his cowardice to fight back against the war occurring because he wants to protect Sophie. But Sophie gives as much as she gets. Not only is she one of the only people who can keep Howl on the right track, she’s also the only person who figures out how to return Howl’s heart to him. My favorite thing about their relationship, though, is the way they encourage one another. Sophie struggles with self confidence throughout the whole movie, and Howl always offers words of encouragement whenever she disparages herself. He even sounds shocked when she does so. And Sophie, though exasperated by Howl, knows he’s not at heart as bad as he believes, and tells him so. Neither character is perfect, but they help each other become better. And neither enter into a relationship until they better themselves, making their relationship feel mature.

Final Verdict: Hell yes. Did you expect anything different?

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie