Untitled

the candle.

i always struggle to put my sims in specific moods to accomplish different tasks or goals so i made scented candles that affect your sims mood in 10 different ways. you are able to ‘live drag’ the candle and put it into your sims  inventory so it’s easy to carry with you to a date/an event or a different room - whenever you want your sims to be in a specific mood. the mood changing effect can be turned on or off as well. and for those who just want a new candle in their game, i made a decorative version, too. this one is not draggable and has no specific function besides being a candle. i hope you like it!

download (free via patreon) [here] 

moodbooster version:  - 10 swatches - each swatch has a different effect on your sims mood (can be turned on/off) - live drag enabled - can be put in sims inventory

deco version: - live drag & inventory disabled - no effects on the sims mood - 10 swatches

basegame compatible

polycount: 220

Gakuen Alice Memorial Scans Part 4/15

Here is the English translation of director Utsumi Hiroko’s letter which was read out during the Banana Fish Premium Party on December 23, 2018. 

A million thanks go to @iamtrashforash who proofread my translation and suffered through my endless explanations about the reasoning behind certain word choices. Thank you so very much for bearing with me and taking the time to go through this not so short nor simple letter. 

The Premium Party was an event attended by Uchida Yuuma (Ash’s VA), Nojima Kenji (Eiji’s VA), Morikawa Toshiyuki (Blanca’s VA) and the series’ producer, Uryuu Kyouko. VAs of Shorter, Yut-Lung and Sing also participated via short video clips. The event took place three days after the final episode of the anime aired and featured brief interviews with the staff and interactive games for the audience. The 90-minute-long footage is included in the blu-ray disc box volume 3.

For me, one of the highlights of the event is the part where Morikawa Toshiyuki reads out Utsumi’s letter. Although Utsumi did not participate in the event herself, she sent a very heartfelt letter to share her experiences with the production of the series and thank the VAs present in the event for their hard work. It resonated with my feelings towards Banana Fish as a story and anime series, so I wanted to share it with you.

I’m not putting up the original Japanese text here for copyright reasons but feel free to drop me a line if you want to take a look at it. The sentences are not always to-the-point, so I might have misinterpreted the meaning in certain passages. Please share your thoughts with me if you disagree with my interpretation. Okay, here we go…

“Thank you for coming to the Premium Party. Have you all watched Banana Fish until the last episode?

Personally, my thoughts about the series revolved around things like “Why do we have to work on such a sad story?!” or like “Lao, go talk to Sing properly!” or like “Ash, you really should think more about Eiji’s feelings!” But ultimately, I said to myself, “Well, that’s just how Banana Fish is,” and worked on the adaptation with that thought in mind.

It had become a regular occurrence to finish the production of each episode just in time for broadcasting. But the last episode simply wouldn’t fit into our usual running time, no matter what we did. So, after direct talks with Fuji TV, we got to extend the last episode for 10 whole minutes! Yay! And while that was all well and good, I still can’t forget how, during the pre-meeting on the production, every single production department said, “The ending didn’t really feel like an ending,” and then there was complete silence.

I’m genuinely glad that the series is over.

Speaking of things I still can’t forget, in the “You have until 12, Cinderella” scene in episode 23, the clock was supposed to show 11:55. But during the screen check it showed 22:55, so it appeared as if Ash stood there for a whole hour watching Eiji and then left with a tear-streaked face. And although that was very charming, naturally we ended up reanimating the scene.

Through this and that, we on the production side were also rushing from one place to another along with Ash and the gang. It was very tough, but also very fulfilling. Thank you so much for sticking around until the very end.

To Uchida-san… (Ash’s VA)

You managed to portray Ash—an incredibly difficult and nuanced character—until the very end, to the amazement of the staff. It made the staff think: “The video animation can’t lose [to the voice acting]!” No one was quite sure about how Candy Bar should be sung but you sang it in the best possible way. That will certainly open new doors for you(*).

There is also the reason why we entrusted [the role of] Ash to you: In the scenes with Eiji, your voice and tone softened, and your tenderness really shone through. “Ah… So this was the happiness that Ash was feeling.” The feeling of warmth was transmitted to me.

I’m so glad it was you who got the role of Ash. Thank you for portraying him until the very end.

HOKAHOKA

To Nojima-san (Eiji’s VA)

I hardly ever gave you any directions, but even now I have fond memories of you struggling to make some of the strange sounds Eiji made from time to time. Like in episode 1, when they pulled a knife on him, or like when he fell after pole-vaulting over that wall, or like that time when that mouse appeared out of nowhere(**).

Words cannot express how well your warmth and kindness, two qualities that are characteristic of Eiji, fit the image of him we had in mind. Thanks to you, when Ash felt happy, we also felt happy.

When we were recording the final letter scene, you said on your own “I want to do it again!” even before knowing whether a retake would be required or not. And when you were asked where do you want to take it from, you said in a very cute way “From when I fumbled my lines~” and continued playing your role until the end.

Thank you so much for saving and protecting Ash’s soul till the very end.

MY ANGEL!

To Morikawa-san (Blanca’s VA)

From the first recording session, you exuded an overwhelmingly calm and steady aura that had all staff members nodding in silent appreciation. Your seductive voice and that strangely atmospheric track, “Blanca’s Theme”, fit together marvellously and brought out Blanca’s adult appeal.

In episode 20, in the scene where Yut-Lung and Blanca were waiting by the car and they were attacked, Blanca pushes him back, yelling “Watch out!” But I still can’t forget how you missed your cue and yelled “Uhh, w-watch out!” instead. If Blanca were indeed as late as you were, Yut-Lung would be dead, right?

While he possesses invincible strength, Blanca captivates women with that handsome face of his and at times shows his charming side. Thank you so much for portraying such an extraordinary character so splendidly.

SEXY VOICE!

That’s all. My soul is with you all and with them as well.

Hiroko Utsumi”

(*) There is lots of laughter from the audience as this part is read out. Utsumi’s obviously saying this sarcastically.

Ash has brought him flowers.

Eiji looks at the bouquet with a mixture of surprise, enchantment and wild emotions he didn´t know he was able to feel. Nobody has given him flowers before and as of lately, Ash is his first time in that little thing too.

Yes, Ash has been his first in more than one way for him:

Ash has been the first to kiss him.

Ash has been the first to touch him.

Ash has been the first to ask him to stay by his side forever and there they are, looking at each other´s eyes. Ash is holding a beautiful bouquet of red, pale pink, orange and yellow flowers and Eiji takes it into his arms. He doesn´t know what to say. He´s just there, looking at his flowers in awe as Ash looks at him with a shy and adorable smile on his lips.

Eji knows that Ash is waiting for a comment, even a “thank you” would be enough but Eiji is lost for words. He isn´t available to come out with a speech which can do justice to the kind of emotions Ash has woken up inside his heart. Because Ash has given him flowers, because Eiji remembers his mother told him once that the flowers have its own language, those flowers mean something but the only thing he can think about is that they are a present from Ash and every little thing that comes from Ash is absolutely flattering.

“So… do you like them?” says Ash shyly and Eiji founds it captivating to see the boy who once targeted a mafia boss with his gun, behaving in that awkward and sweet way.

“I love you…” says Eiji and at first, he doesn´t notice he has said “you” and not “them”.

Ash´s green eyes sparkle with the sound of the words Eiji has said and without hesitating a little bit, Ash gets closer to Eiji and kisses his lips. Ash wants to catch the echo of those words in his own mouth forever because Eiji is the first person to tell him those words.

Eiji has been the first to say “I love you” to him.

“I love you too, Eiji” says Ash and the Japanese boy smiles widely as if those words and not the flowers were the only sign he needs to know that spring has come his way and, that as long as Ash is with him, they would never know about winter anymore…

Both would have given their life to save the other without the slightest hesitation.

“I’ll save Ash no matter what. I’ll even kill if I have to.”

💫 The Sims 4 Realm of Magic Giveaway 💫 Thanks to the EA Game Changers Programme, I am able to give away one copy of The Sims 4 Realm of Magic! I cannot thank the team enough for allowing me to run this giveaway, thank you so much! 

Kizu Natsuki's art of Ash, from Banana Fish.

Shorter: [taps on the table]

Yut Lung: Stop that.

Eiji: What are they doing?

Yut Lung: They’re talking about me in morse code.

Ash: Yes, that’s what we’re doing. In our very limited free time, we took a class on a very outdated, very unnecessary form of communication just so we could talk about you in front of you.

[later]

Ash: I don’t know, what do you normally do when I’m gone?

This is an extra published in 1998, that contains Max's memoirs of Ash and the future lives of all characters of Banana Fish.

For more info, this is from the twitter of @enta_jinnai, OP and translator of this post :

Yoshida sensei had apparently planned something for Ash's mother, which she wasn't able to include in her works for whatever reason (I got to know this just today).

And in conversation with @enta_jinnai, I agreed, that it wasn't possible to bury Ash with Griffin, since Griff was buried in an undocumented public grave, and Ash's relationship w his father was in no way as "important / loving", not in the way Ash still valued his mother, even if they never got to spend any time together.

No one's asking anyone to accept this as canon / mandatory scenarios, it's simply an extra work published later on, and whether you choose to believe it or not, is entirely up to you.

The part with Griff’s grave was already explained, so I won’t repeat it.

Now about Ash’s mother. Even if Yoshida-sensei didn’t have the chance to write more about Ash’s mother, there are still snippets that tell us that she wasn’t that unimportant to him.

The first time she was mentioned though, Ash didn’t really seemed to be fond of her which may imply he was angry at her or even hated her with passion:

However, a few volumes later, we get this scene:

Even though he had called her a “slut”, he still cried out for his mother while having nightmares, which makes me wonder if he had just badmouthed her before because he wanted to appear tough or was in a bad mood that time. Understandable, considering he just returned to the place where his whole trauma started + meeting his father again. There’s also the possibility of Yoshida-sensei not knowing where she wanted to go with his mother at that point of the story.

Either way, if he really didn’t care about her in any way or hated her, he would have called for someone else in his sleep like Griff.

Another important scene is this conversation he had with Eiji on the ferry:

There’s no hint of sarcasm here nor hostility when Ash talks about his mom during this scene, even directing the conversation towards her in the first place. He seems rather thoughtful, especially at the end, as if he’s searching for answers and obviously ponders about what Eiji had told him. I really would had liked to know what he intended to ask, but I guess it would have been something like: “Then why did she abandon me if she loved me?”

Ash doesn’t seem like he doesn’t care about his mom, but rather the opposite. He may act angry when she is first brought up, but in the other scenes, he does seem to long for her in a way as well as for answers and I’m pretty sure Ash would have liked to meet her in person to get these answers.

I highly doubt that the decision of Ash being buried with his mother is supopsed to be seen as yet another proof of Yoahida-sensei “clearly hating him” (seriously, this statement is getting old). She wanted to write more about his mother after all, so it’s likely she knew more than us anyway and that there was a clear reason for that decision. Since Japan is known to be rather spiritual, maybe it’s supposed to be seen as their spirits being able to finally meet and Ash getting the answers he longed to find for so long, who knows?

I personally don’t think it’s a bad decision but an interesting one and I really would like to know what Yoshida-sensei had in mind for his mother. But I guess it can’t be helped and we have to reach our own conclusion with the help of what information canon offers us.

PS:

I totally agree with your points, that Ash's father was an abjectly irresponsible man. And I think more than any other villains in the story, he was the one who had a lion's share in how Ash's misfortunes started to begin with. He had been callous in how he brought up Griff and Ash, and I don't sympathise with him at all.

I agree, that Ash had a complicated relationship / idea about his mother. It's understandable, after everything that happened.

This is an extra published in 1998, that contains Max's memoirs of Ash and the future lives of all characters of Banana Fish.