Forgotten presence

Yep, they forgot about him. Poor guy.

I loved reading your comments last week haha, some of them were hilarious. And all those hypotheses! Very amusing. I hope the development will still manage to surprise you from time to time! As you can see some people in the camp are more observant than the others and both Nina and Kasper have some theories about Rob as well~ Sofia is just being Sofia ლ(╹◡╹ლ)

It’s been a while since we talked about anime! Maybe because Rob isn’t in the view right now. I’ve been kind of tight on time but I’m trying to follow Inuyashiki and Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou. Inuyashiki is interesting and I need to admit that I was bothered by the graphics (it’s completely in 3D) but they got so much better with it compared to the 1st episode that I can no longer tell. Or maybe they just switched to regular animation… No, wait… No. They just got better. I hope. Anyway, the story is interesting and the main hero is kind of unconventional! If you like bloody drama with a bit of sci-fi you might want to check it out.

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou is weirder. Two girls travel through the world which looks empty, abandoned maybe. We don’t know what happened, just get bits and pieces of the history as they move forward (to who knows where, next meal, I suppose). I’m curious what happened to the world and that’s what makes me keep watching. It’s very slow paced so if you tend to get bored easily you might want to skip this one.

What about you guys? Watched any of those two? Have your own recommendations from among the newest titles?

JAPAN CORNER WILL BE ADDED TOMORROW (I RAN OUT OF TIME)

86 comments on “Forgotten presence”

  1. NiWo21k Reply

    Hey you make it easy for us to come up with ideas (see what i wrote on Patreon ^^). But i am so happy that you really take your time for the characters. Its like i said some time ago, really sad that seemingly more and more writers forget about them somewhere on the way or concentrate on the wrong parts :-/

    And your conversations never really feel like something that’s just pressed in there, but like something actual people would talk like.
    Most importantly, you have so many diverse characters everyone can find a bit of themselves in at least one of them XD

    About Anime:
    TBH i still try to catch up XD – i only can give you some recommendations to already some older ones XD

    • JW Reply

      I for one wouldn’t mind older recommendations. I always lag behind the seasons, makes it easier to pick out what’s decent (because at least by then people will have voiced an opinion on it)

      The only one I’m watching right now that I’d say is maybe a bit better than the rest is “Princess Principal”. But then again, I’m easily pleased with a all-girl ass-kicking cast and if you add steampunk to the mix then how could I not like it?
      I think Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan had the most hilarious first episode of any show I saw in a long while, but after that I quickly grew tired of it.
      For my slice-of-life fix I recently finished the second season of “New Game”, and I’m half-way through Blend S. Good fun, wouldn’t want to have missed it, but not “Wow” either.
      I was really disappointed by Jigoku Shoujo, where most episodes turned out to be reruns.

      • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

        I lag behind decades</i.
        Still haven't watched all of Naruto. And it seems I should watch Attack on Titan, Hunter x Hunter and Fullmetal Alchemist (is that spelled like this?).

      • JW Reply

        I haven’t watched any of Naruto, and I never will. I’ve given up on watching anime that run forever and a day.

      • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

        Heh, yeah, that’s probably one of the reasons why I’ve not been able to watch more than a handful of episodes…

      • NiWo21k Reply

        I tried many “long run” shows, but at some point, i started just dropping them, mostly because i just don’t have the time or paused for some time and had trouble coming back.

        I mostly watch older series to catch up, but one thing i have found out, that most of the shows i quite enjoyed, nearly everyone hates, don’t know if i just have a bad taste or really no idea what is good XD — Area 88, Paranoia Agent, Spice and Wolf, Steins;Gate, C, Serial Lain, Black Lagoon, Noir, Madlax, Ghost Hunt, Haiyore! Nyaruko-san, Full Metall Alchemist Brotherhood, Trigun, Last Exile, Canaan, Fate/Zero, Persona 4, Gun Smith Cats, Grenadier, Gurren Lagan and some more,… Like i said, don’t judge me ^^

      • JW Reply

        What people do you hang around that think those are bad? The ones on the list that I know are good (imo) or I heard they’re good (iseo), and I’m pretty sure they’re also well-rated on ANN (that name one source I usually check).
        It definitely suggests I should check out the ones on your list I don’t know; thanks!

      • NiWo21k Reply

        Can’t say anything about that, but its really so, that most od the time i hear, how boring my choices are XD
        I think most of them just hate me that i still absolutely despise the first anime i ever watched (NGE) and the second one (Noir) was what made me fall in love with them and to this day Madlax, Steins;Gate and Spice and Wolf (only for fans) are my favorites.

        But you’re welcome – if you find something new 🙂

  2. Rateus Reply

    Oops, they forgot about Kasper. That came gear is super effective. Learning vital information by sitting quietly in the background.

    • antrik Reply

      It seems the only “camo gear” needed here, is being male and keeping quiet 😉

      And somehow I don’t think Kasper considers this information quite as “vital” as us onlookers do… 😉

        • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

          Poor guy must have a lot on his mind as the provisional leader of the camp…

          We indeed have nothing better to do than listen to girly talk and speculating about peoples’ relationships and true character…

  3. Hurokun Reply

    Hey there you talked about animes so i tough on showing up again :p

    im watching Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou too and i find it really interesting. like your said is 2 girls living on a post apocalyptic war that probably killed almost everything. and they are just living their day-by-day life, searching for food and resources while asking themselves really profound questions like ‘what is a living being’. i really liked the anime 🙂

    im also watching Houseki no Kuni. you and probably a lot of people avoided that one because its 3D. and yeah, some times the movement is a bit weird but in general i think its a good anime.

    and of course Mahoutsukai no Yome. watch it. really, its a great anime and have a lot of material to dig. its probably the best of the season and it will have 24 epis so its still on halfway. i really recommend it 🙂

    • NotImportant Reply

      I read the manga for Mahoutsukai no Yome, I do plan to watch it! Manga is so well drawn… the details are fantastic and I loved the story as well.

  4. Klorix Camp dweller Reply

    So, Kasper has some insight into Rob & Ada’s relationship? Let’s hear about that. 🙂

    • antrik Reply

      Well, he clearly has a *theory* — how insightful it is, remains to be seen 😉

      But yeah, I’m veeeery curious to hear it regardless 🙂

      I’m equally curious though what they mean exactly when saying Robert is “putting up a front”. I said before that his goofy behaviour doesn’t make sense to me — so any explanation attempt regarding that will be highly appreciated 🙂

      • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

        I was thinking his serious side was put on, and his goofy side him being “normal”.

      • antrik Reply

        Took me a while to sort my thoughts on this… But here we go:

        Since Robert is officially “a dork beyond repair”, I guess it’s fair to assume that some degree of goofiness is natural to him… However, whenever he is serious, it always seems genuine and apropos — so I very much doubt it is “put on”, either.

        I suspect that they might be thinking more specifically of the weird way Robert behaves towards Ada. I can’t think of anything else; and this aspect of him has had me puzzled for a while. Clearly, his goofy come-ons do not meet her approval — but he doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who just wouldn’t know better…

        The question then would be, why does he do this? A simple explanation could be that he isn’t truly interested in her romantically, and only wants to get a laugh out of it; or that he is jokingly feigning an interest, in an attempt to bolster her confidence… The latter at least would fit with Kasper’s statement.

        Still, I don’t think either is true: it wouldn’t explain why Robert gets all flustered each time Ada says something that *might* be interpreted as a hint of romantic interest on her side…

        So it seems more likely to me that his crush is real; but for some reason, he chooses to laugh it off, rather than expressing it seriously. It might be to protect his own feelings in case of a likely rejection — but that wouldn’t fit with Kasper’s assessment that he is doing it for Ada. (And also, I’m not sure Robert is the sort of guy for that, either…)

        That leaves me with the only scenario that looks reasonably plausible to me (though admittedly, it’s quite a long shot): that he doesn’t want to appear too serious, to avoid putting pressure on her; while at the same time hoping it would still induce her to drop some hint of a possible interest on her side…

      • antrik Reply

        Wait, I just realised that Kasper didn’t say Robert was doing it *for* Ada: he actually said he is doing it *because* of her… That opens the possibility for another (though kinda dark) interpretation: that dealing with Ada made Robert become guarded in expressing himself openly… Whoa.

  5. Doom Reply

    I like seeing Laura climb on and cuddle Sofia. So cute! Assuming Laura is not making Sofia uncomfortable, of course.

    • antrik Reply

      Clearly, Laura has (unilaterally) adopted Sofia as a sister 🙂 Ironically, their interactions so far more often than not feel like Laura is the *big* sister in this constellation…

      As for making Sofia uncomfortable, it’s hard to tell really: there are so many other things going on right now making her uncomfortable 😉

    • Refugnic Reply

      Wouldn’t surprise me, if some doors in the camp swung both ways, to be honest.

      It is 2017 after all and not 1617.

      Though yeah, thus far those two seem innocent enough to pass as ‘sisters’.
      After all, one can never have enough family in times like these, am I right? 😉

      • JW Reply

        I’m fairly sure it’s canon that Sofia has had a girlfriend. There was that picture on twitter, and I’m pretty sure that was declared canon.

        But I don’t image there’s anything like that between Laura and Sofia. Even aside from Sofia being smitten with Robert at the moment.

      • antrik Reply

        I’d like to point out that Laura is 14, and Sofia 22 — anything between them would be *highly* inappropriate…

        To be honest, personally I’d prefer that we don’t see “some doors swing both ways”… Don’t get me wrong: I’m not homophobic — it’s just, the occurrence of LGBT individuals in a large portion of web comics is so ridiculously high, that every time I see yet another one bring out the obligatory queers, all it gets from me at this point is an eye roll. We get it: non-hetero individuals do exist, and there is nothing wrong with it. Doesn’t mean almost every single comic needs to show how very progressive it is, by having like a third of it’s cast fall into this category… Especially when most of them are trying to make an explicit point of it, which is *not* helping with depicting it as totally normal.

        (There are some that are more subtle about it, really making it feel natural — but unfortunately, it’s a minority among those I have seen…)

      • Refugnic Reply

        Age difference is one of the things that becomes very relative with the passage of time.
        8 years are a huge gap at their age, but once they’re 80 (and 72)? Not so much any more.

        But yeah, I don’t think that kinda thing would be happening.
        Not between those two at least.
        Statistically, there’s likely to be at least one homo- (or bisexual) person in that camp, though it most definitely doesn’t have to be one of the main cast.

        I could, if NI absolutely wanted to include someone (not from the main cast), imagine that one of the male survivors could make a pass at Filip for example…you know, him being a pretty boy and all that.
        Could be funny to see how he would react.

        But yeah well, it’s not exactly the point of the comic to be progressive about the potential array of sexuality, I’ll give you that.

      • Doom Reply

        I do agree that Laura is way too young for any of the adults to potentially date her. Laura works better as an adorable little sister who, as is often the way of little sisters, mercilessly teases the older girls about their crushes.

      • JW Reply

        it’s just, the occurrence of LGBT individuals in a large portion of web comics is so ridiculously high

        Of course, on that note, the occurrence of individuals that are in any way non-conforming or special or whatever is ridiculously high. There are very few stories about perfectly ordinary characters living perfectly ordinary boring lives. 😛

      • antrik Reply

        Actually, there is a whole genre of stories about ordinary, boring lives: it’s called Soap Operas 😛

        On a more serious note, there is indeed the genre of “Slice of Live” comics — and they *can* be pretty interesting at times… Though admittedly, it’s extremely rare that they remain interesting over a prolonged period of time; and many sooner or later devolve into soap operas, or some fantasy crossover weirdness…

        But back to the actual topic at hand: I have no objection whatsoever to gender or sexual orientation being part of the plot — indeed I have read and enjoyed quite a bunch of stories where this is the case. I’m only annoyed when such things are brought in everywhere gratuitously in a “me too” fashion…

      • NotImportant Reply

        Just to let you guys know, and maybe avoid some disappointments in the future – it’s correct that Sofia had a female partner in the past and Stefen is also kind of “whatever” in that regard but this story won’t be focusing on LGBT-community-related struggles and problems as I don’t have any idea about those (my own experience or close friends I could consult). I just don’t feel comfortable enough to write about it, it wouldn’t feel authentic at all. I might explore the topic a bit in Sofia’s backstory but that’ll probably be it regarding gay relationships. So! Even if it’ll cost Replay some popularity I’m not going to go that way.

      • antrik Reply

        But… But… By outright admitting that, you killed so much potential for beautiful speculation!… 😉

        BTW, ironically the first (and almost only) piece of fan fiction I ever published, is actually a non-canon lesbian pairing… Though it’s just a sort of in-joke, not an actual fantasy of mine 🙂

      • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

        Well, don’t worry about that too much, NI. This is not a slice-of-life soap opera after all.
        We do enjoy the relationshipp talk and speculation, as to some extent it can be relevant to people’s survival. And of course it’s always important to have character depth, especially to make us worry for their wellbeing. But that’s the point: this is a survival story.

        So, whether you feel like including LGBT in your or story, or not, it’s your choice. I am ok with any of it. And I prefer that you feel comfortable with your story. Now, knowing a little bit about some characters’ orientation, I’ll happily assume there just isn’t anyone they are interested in, in an LGBT fashion. If there are going to be tensions between characters, I really couldn’t care less whether a men and woman, two men, two women are ‘fighting’ for the attention of a ‘love interest’.

        Sheesh, LGBT discussions are difficult if you try to get your point accross, hopefully not being misunderstood and not hurting anyones feelings…

      • antrik Reply

        Well, I can’t speak for others, obviously: but for me, I have to say that the story only got *really* interesting when the relationship stuff became more prominent lately… Sure, a straight survival action story can be fun at times, too — but it didn’t truly captivate me: until recently, I was indeed following (on and off) mostly just for the stunning artwork…

        So for me it’s more like the apocalypse stuff provides an interesting backdrop for the drama, rather than the other way around 🙂

        • NotImportant Reply

          As someone already said (I think Refugnic…?) – it’s just way easier to feel for characters that have similar problems we do. Falling in love with the wrong people? Sure, we’ve all been there. Trying to survive while demons kill everyone on the planet? Mmmm nope, not so much.
          And that’s completely fine. As Sanderson said – fantasy genre still has a lot to learn from other genres. So lets have a proper drama while we kill the demons, shall we?

          • Speedy

            Well, here in 2020, we can relate to a lot more to demons trying to kill the world. Heck, Covid 19 is a lot like the demons. If you wait till it’s visible, to take precautions, it might well be too late.

            Wear masks, people. ESPECIALLY if you’re already infected. The life you save might be my own. 😉 … (or the lives of your loved ones. They’re kinda important too) 🙂

      • JW Reply

        Trying to survive while demons kill everyone on the planet? Mmmm nope, not so much.

        Hey, you don’t know how many planets I’ve escaped where demons killed everyone!
        I mean, you can make an uncannily accurate guess, but you don’t know 😛

  6. antrik Reply

    I wonder what the rest of the campers are doing, while the cool kids here are busy creating (apparently) an emergency back-up barrier?…

    • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

      Well, we’ve seen them wash clothes, build (sanitary) infrastructure; maybe they’ve started draining the bunker.

      • antrik Reply

        Good point about the bunker. That would certainly explain why the rest of the camp seems kinda deserted…

      • antrik Reply

        Adding a couple of tiny figures in the background now and then would be harder for you than painting these gorgeous surroundings all the time? I can’t help being a little surprised about that 🙂

        • NotImportant Reply

          Cause I can copy-paste parts of the backgrounds and it still looks okay-ish and with people you guys would realize right away!!! XD

  7. antrik Reply

    Unfortunately, real life is also full of extremely jealous (i.e. insecure) people… But no, Filip didn’t strike me as that type.

    He didn’t strike me as a “player” either, though. I wonder where that perception is coming from?

    (But then again, we haven’t really seen all that much of him yet…)

  8. Refugnic Reply

    Who needs a magical amulet if you’ve got gossip you care little about? 😛

    Regarding the ‘pretty girl’ comment…first off, Nina is one to talk.
    Second: I don’t think, Sofia considers herself as ‘all that pretty’.
    She’d behave differently if she considered herself better than her peers.
    Instead she appears to have quite an inferiority complex…instead of flaunting what she has (like, in her opinion, the pretty people do), she keeps to herself and it really is a herculean effort for her to approach Rob like that in the first place.
    In front of his perceived girlfriend no less.

    Antrik already said it in the last comment, jealousy is not a trait, but much rather the effect of one, namely ‘insecurity’.
    If you feel that you can trust your partner to not betray you, jealousy will never be a problem.
    And ‘players’ are rarely jealous, because they don’t care too much about whom they are dealing with.
    All that counts for those people is the conquest, not the person to be ‘conquered’.
    The only ‘jealousy’ that happens to them is, if someone else is trying for the same ‘target’ as they are…especially if they are more successful at doing so. 😀

    • antrik Reply

      Regarding “flaunting”, Sofia *does* dress rather sexy…

      She is extremely shy, and thus awkward with accepting compliments; however, after hearing it so often, she would have to be *extremely* hard-headed not to believe herself pretty… And while constant compliments tend to make pretty girls outwardly confident *most* of the time, it’s not always the case for particularly shy ones.

      (Also, I heard — though I have no idea whether it’s really true — that *inwardly*, pretty girls actually tend to have *worse* self-confidence, since they get to assume that people like them *only* because of their looks…)

      • Refugnic Reply

        Yeah, I noticed that she has a…rather interesting choice of clothes.
        Kinda makes me wonder, what she was up to when the world went to hell, cause for some reason I don’t think that’s her casual wear.

        At least it doesn’t sit well with her shy personality and low self-esteem.
        Unless of course, she’s at the point of: ‘I need to dress sexy, otherwise nobody will ever like me.’…which is, as I’m sure you’ll agree, not a healthy mindset.

        My memory may be deceiving me, but she has been wearing this type of clothing from since we’ve met her, which was before she met Robert (again), so I’m assuming that either she’s stuck with those clothes (cause it was what she was wearing when the world went down) or she put on those clothes after it all happened (to impress someone), or her casual clothes got wrecked and that was the only stuff that would fit her.

        I’m not too fond of the ideas 2 and 3, actually.
        3, because it’s a too perfect fit to be mere chance.
        2, because it doesn’t sit well with her personality.

        So what could little Sophie possibly have been up to when the world went down?
        I wonder…but then again, they do say that quiet waters are deep, don’t they?
        Maybe I do have a fundamentally wrong perception of her.

        Who knows, she might actually have a split personality and we wouldn’t know! 😀

      • antrik Reply

        @Refugnic we have seen her in more than one outfit — but they are all like that… Rather unlikely for a coincidence.

        In https://replaycomic.com/comic/sharing-the-warmth/ , she says she was “camping with friends”. (Though I was never quite sure whether she was referring to what happened when the apocalypse started, or to later events?…)

        Anyway, it doesn’t feel to me like a contradiction with her shyness — though I’m not sure I can explain why… Something like, since she doesn’t speak up much, she needs other ways to express herself? Perhaps saying, “look, I may not seem very outgoing — but that doesn’t mean I’m a boring prude!”…

      • Refugnic Reply

        Quite personally, I have a hard time telling similar outfits apart.
        But then again, I have a hard time telling people apart as well.

        Still, I don’t think for example my wife (who is rather sociable, at least compared to me) would dress like that.
        Never did when she was Sofia’s age either.
        Something about her just doesn’t seem to add up, if you ask me.

        And about the camping with friends bit, I’d say she was doing that when all hell broke loose.
        Still, I don’t think I (or anyone I know for that matter, but then again, my circle of people ‘I know’ is rather limited) would dress like that for camping.
        I’d definitely pick something more sturdy.

      • antrik Reply

        I have to agree that Sofia’s outfits do not seem very suitable for camping. (I wonder, are all these holes in her stockings just for style, or are they actually the result of camp life being hard on them?…) Maybe it was actually her first camping trip, and she just didn’t know better? Or she is of the deeply vain kind, who puts looks above practicality…

        (At scouting camp, we were once visited by a sanitary inspector who, I kid you not, came in high heels… As you can imagine, we didn’t have a high opinion of her 😉 Incidentally, she also disapproved of the idea of “children strolling through the forest on their own”…)

        Anyway, the fact that Sofia apparently packed these clothes for a camping trip, is probably only more confirmation that it is indeed her “normal” way of dressing, not for some kind of special occasion…

        BTW, I also have a hard time telling people apart. Only makes clothing distinctions more important… Well, OK, not really 😉 (Hair styles, on the other hand…)

      • JW Reply

        I think it really depends on what sort of camping trip it was supposed to be. My guess would be college kids getting together in a tent with music and booze, rather than get together and life out in the wilds for a few weeks.

      • antrik Reply

        Well, sure, it was probably not a “survival” camp… But even for a “casual” camping trip, it doesn’t seem the right choice of clothing.

        Though rather than having packed the “wrong” clothes, Sofia might simply not *have* more suitable ones?…

        (Of course that would just confirm the original point even more…)

    • Rateus Camp dweller Reply

      R.E. Refugnic’s “Nina is one to talk” You’re bang on there. I am the most smitten with Nina, which figures because she is the most already spoken for 🙁 It’s always the way.

      • Refugnic Reply

        Similar for me, but I think that’s also a matter of age perception.

        I just checked, according to the bios page, she’s 24, so two years younger than Ada.
        However, if I met the two of them on the street, I would gauge Ada much younger than Nina, because Nina’s entire mannerism and also her looks emit way more maturity than Ada does.

        Which is also, why she appears as more attractive to the male audience of a bygone century.
        Don’t really want to use the word ‘mature’ when talking about my peers and most notably myself. 😀

        I mean sure, Ada is cute and all, but she has a long way to go to be beautiful.
        Same for Sofia, though Ada is supposed to have 4 more years of life experience.

        Which once again proves the point: Age is but a number.

        To say it with Coco Chanel: “You can be gorgeous at thirty, charming at forty, and irresistible for the rest of your life.”

        I once came across a similar quote, though I can’t seem to find it.
        Loosely it goes like this: ‘Women are sweet at 16, stunning at 20, gorgeous at 30 and irresistible at 40. And no woman who has ever been irresistible will ever grow older again.’

        I wonder who originally said that…

      • JW Reply

        I mean sure, Ada is cute and all, but she has a long way to go to be beautiful.

        I’d disagree but beauty is the eye of the beholder, so it’s a pointless thing to argue about.
        w.r.t. my beholding eye, I’d rather look at a poster of Ada than Nina. So in that sense I think Ada is more beautiful. I agree Nina seems more mature, and I also think she’s sexier, but I still find Ada more attractive because she’s cute, feisty and kicks demon ass.

      • Doom Reply

        I like Ada best, but I won’t fault people for preferring Nina. Nina is also a very pretty lady.

      • antrik Reply

        IMHO it’s pretty impossible to rank them, since the esteemed artist likes to play around with their looks quite a bit; so it really shifts from panel to panel…

      • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

        I tried to rank them, but without knowing them better I cannot assess how well any of the girls would be a good match to me.
        As to ranking by their physique, that’s pretty much a matter of mood…

      • Rateus Camp dweller Reply

        @Refugnic, JW, Doom, Antrik and Clorix (couldn’t reply any lower down). Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Which is fortunate or I’d be single!

      • antrik Reply

        @Klorix yeah, that conversation was just about looks…

        Regarding personality, if we ignore the age aspect, I’d say Laura is a clear winner 🙂

      • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

        @antrik
        I really like Laura, but on a personality level, I’m not sure I’d be able to cope. I’m just not active enough. But as a friend, she’d be great.
        Talking of personality, Ada might be difficult to handle. So for what we’ve seen so far, I think I’d favour Nina.

        And after thinking a bit more about it, Nine would probably be #1* in regard to pure looks more often than not. I do love Ada’s eyes, and the other girls have beautiful eyes, too, but Nina beats them all…

        * Kind of like Replay on TWC. Sometimes, it is not, but usually (/^▽^)/

      • antrik Reply

        Well, Nina kinda wins by default 😉 Both Ada and Sofia have too many issues they need to work out first before qualifying as serious relationship material… These problems are indeed so dominant in their demeanour, that it’s hard to gather much beyond that regarding their personalities.

        Though on the other hand, we do not really know all that much about Nina either yet… She seemed kind-hearted thus far — but the way she is talking about Robert here is rather judgemental… I’m putting her on probation! 😉

        As for looks, I admit that Nina looked beautiful to me the first time we saw her. (Is that strange, considering that she was passed out?…) However, looking at the same pictures again, I’m kinda “meh” now… Not sure what to make of that.

        Ada for the most part looks totally adorable, rather than stunning… Which might be a bit weird for a (hypothetical) romantic interest?… Not sure whether that’s a real problem.

        And Sofia… She looks OK — but rather unremarkable for the most part, considering that she’s the one everyone is calling “pretty girl”… In fact the only time she looked really pretty to me, was while she was crying… ( https://replaycomic.com/comic/important-memory-4/ ) Seriously, what’s wrong with me?! 😉

        (Actually, I think that’s because of the closed eyes: for some reason, cartoon characters tend to look particularly cute to me with their eyes closed… Which is somewhat strange, since I don’t think the same applies in nature.)

      • JW Reply

        Both Ada and Sofia have too many issues they need to work out first before qualifying as serious relationship material…

        Man, if I let that stop me fantasizing about relationships with girls in anime/manga, or for that matter real women, I’d only get to think about work.

        (Is that strange, considering that she was passed out?…)

        Not that strange. I remember in highschool when we were playing soccer in gym-class outdoor, one girl got hit square in the head and fell over, and it was only when I saw her lying there I realized she was actually quite beautiful.
        I think the vulnerability of the moment might contribute, and/or an urge to protect. I have a similar weakness for girls with a broken limb; weird but true. Come to think of it that might come into play with (anime) girls with, well, let’s say, a small scratch or fracture in their psyche. (Complete insanity on the other hand, not so much)

        Ada for the most part looks totally adorable, rather than stunning… Which might be a bit weird for a (hypothetical) romantic interest?… Not sure whether that’s a real problem.

        I wouldn’t consider it an issue for a romantic interest, but maybe for a sexual interest (which may be but isn’t for me necessarily a part of romantic interest).

  10. Crestlinger Reply

    Anime of note
    Gate. Japan invaded by another world.
    Patima Inverted. Movie. Watch if you have no vertigo issues.
    Code: Realize. Based on a visual novel game. Steampunk + Britain circa 1800s -ongoing
    RWBY Season 5 -ongoing

  11. Tzaphqiel Reply

    That first panel of Nina is absolutely captivating. Then again, so are most pictures of her, as she is a very beautiful woman. Filip is a really lucky man.
    As for current anime, I’ve mainly been following the re-make of Kino’s Journey (a set of stories about a young woman, her talking motorcycle, and their travels to various bizarre countries; the original is what got me into anime in the first place) and the second season for Blood Blockade Battlefront (or Kekkai Sensen, a nice monster-of-the-week story set in a version of New York City that got partially engulfed/assimilated by the Underworld 3 years prior to the time of the story).

  12. SKy Reply

    Heh… I know what it’s like, blending into the background. Sounds bothersome at first but really it keeps people from bothering you since they don’t think of you. Plus it makes it easy to gather information.
    All the things I know although I wasn’t supposed to… Just because people didn’t realize I could hear them…
    😉

    • NotImportant Reply

      I also recommend this one! Manga is still on-going and it’s getting more and more disturbing.

  14. bitflipper Camp dweller Reply

    Heh! Looks like Kasper hit the nail on the head! Not all men are scheming, deeply-layered, complex creatures; some of us just have no idea how to express ourselves, especially towards the woman who has captivated our attention so effectively.

    But, sorry, Sofia; I’m afraid Robert’s spoken for.

    • antrik Reply

      I’m actually not so sure about “spoken for”. While I did say myself that so far it *looks* like Robert is more or less openly pursuing Ada, and she openly doesn’t return the sentiment, that opens the possibility that Robert sooner or later accepts the futility, and goes for someone who is actually interested in him…

      Also — and perhaps more importantly — I still think Robert’s behaviour doesn’t quite add up: so the real situation is probably more complex than that. The other campers at least no longer seem to consider Robert “spoken for”… Though of course they might be wrong on that count, too. Let’s see what Kasper has to bring to the table 🙂

      I think the more worrisome aspect is that, spoken for or not, the object of her interest is someone clearly oblivious of her. And it appears to me that she might actually have a history of pursuing guys not interested in her… It is often said that we tend to always fall into the same patterns in our choice of partners — and that it’s reflective of the relationship we had with out parents. So I guess Sofia had parents that didn’t seem to return her affection? That would certainly explain how her poor self-image came about — and how she keeps ending up in situations that reinforce that image…

      • Refugnic Reply

        ‘Clearly oblivious to her’? Really?
        Then I wonder why in the world he got so flustered, when Sofia gave him the little present?
        Sure, because he’s thinking that Ada would be mad because a pretty girl gave him a boxed lunch, which, as we know from Anime, is a sign of affection (and Robert is an Anime nerd, so he’s bound to make that association).

        But let’s reel back from him worrying about what Ada might be thinking and go back to the other part of the situation:
        ‘A pretty girl gave him a token of affection’.

        If it had been a kid, he wouldn’t have been worried.
        If it had been a guy, he wouldn’t have been worried. (Much rather weirded out, but that’s another story)
        But he is worried.

        That means, that he may consider her as potential partner and is now worried that Ada might get angry at him (for accepting it) or Sofia for being so bold as to give it to him.
        Either is not good, especially considering that their survival is kinda depending on the goodwill of our residential witches. 😀
        Not like Ada would actually harm them out of spite, but still, he just doesn’t want her angry at him…which begs the question, what got him so scared in the first place.

        Cause as I’m sure you know, jealousy can be a good kick in the right direction: Act before he’s gone, the vultures are already waiting.
        But then again, only those who feel threatened feel jealous, so I’m guessing Ada is either more sure of her hold on Robert than I thought…or she simply doesn’t care, which would be really bad for their relationship.

        But I’m speculating again.

      • antrik Reply

        You are saying that as if speculating was a bad thing… 😉

        I believe the lunch situation showed that Robert hadn’t even considered Sofia a potential romantic interest; nor had the thought passed his mind that she might be interested in him. It also shows that he was *thinking* Ada would be jealous, because that’s what it looked like to him in an earlier situation ( https://replaycomic.com/comic/not-at-all/ ) — though as far as I can tell, that was really a misunderstanding on his part. (She was actually just angry that he “abandoned” her, not because she was jealous of him wanting to talk to Sofia.)

        I don’t think we have actually seen Ada jealous yet — nor showing any romantic interest in Robert at all. (If she has any, she must be hiding it very well…) And apparently that’s also what it looks like to the other campers, since they clearly consider him “fair game”…

      • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

        Maybe Ada does not have any romantic interest, but it sure looked like she does appreciate occasional display of affection. Even she needs a friend.
        How much that may or may not play a role in Robert being “available” or actually affect any relationship he might get involved in I couldn’t tell, as we really don’t fully understand their dynamic.

        The latter probably is the reason for our huge interest in their relationship…

      • antrik Reply

        Well, as I said before, I for my part believe Robert is more than a friend to Ada: she seems to be outright dependent on him emotionally… I don’t think she can imagine living without him.

        (Much like Lucy used to be dependent on Mike in Bittersweet Candy Bowl — though I don’t think further events will play out quite the same 😉 )

        However, the only time I can think of where Ada did actually appreciate the display of affection (after some hesitation), was the tree hugging scene ( https://replaycomic.com/comic/dere-dere/ ) — but that was a rather exceptional situation: after all, she thought he might be dead earlier…

        (Of course it also might have something to do with the fact that he was kinda almost “normal” about it for once…)

        Conveniently, that same scene is probably the main reason for us shipping them… err, I mean for our huge interest in the dynamics of their relationship 😉

  15. ety Reply

    I feel like scar-face… Kasper? Kasper. Kasper’s wording is a little bit awkward, but it’s probably fine. It’s just _way_ more natural to me for the “only” to come in between the “he’s” and “doing” to the point where I had to reread it a few times before I even realized and had to read it aloud several times before I could even get it right without accidentally “fixing” it in my head.

    • ety Reply

      It’s probably largely one of those things where my way of speaking lends itself more to a certain flow than another might and that’s one of the harder things to convey via text. So the way he emphasizes it when he says it might make it sound fine, but the “default” way I’d emphasize it makes me want to reorder the words.

  16. Joshua Bennett Reply

    Kasper is me whenever I’m with a group of people. Sometimes I just keep quiet before I join in, making everyone jump as they realise that I exist.
    It’s actually quite fun

  18. SotiCoto Reply

    Still can’t get used to the idea that Sofia had glasses and now doesn’t. The vivid, light tone of her eyes in places makes her look… blind… =(

    Or that Renate might be staying dead. Really ought to be seeing about resurrecting her once they’ve got that book of Solomon or whatever.

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