氷の城壁

Going from "You and I are Polar Opposites" to this feels like entering an alternate universe where the atmosphere is reversed. The author must be doing a victory lap right now seeing both works animated (and animated well). It's interesting that they sprinkle quick flashbacks (which don't feel rushed at the same time) to illustrate how Koyuki built up her personality. But right now I'm more interested in how that guy was able to get about the whole day without his contacts.

To be entirely fair, Jujutsu Kaisen actually sounds pretty good if you know the original kanji. It's not written in a way that sounds everyday: not like " Sorcery Fight ." To roughly convey the idea: I would call the phrasing very archaic, especially for a battle shōnen series – by no means as straightforward as, say, My Hero Academia . This is largely because of the Kaisen part: 廻戦 is not an actual word, with its two kanji being an archaic one roughly having nuances of "revolve, continuous, drawn-out, walking around aimlessly," and a less archaic one roughly meaning "war, fight, battle." This might refer to JJK's nonstop action, or it might refer to the endless and tiring "war" that Jujutsu sorcerers go through. Of course, localizing this as "The Ever-Repeating Battles Involving Sorcery Techniques" would just be awful, and still does not capture much of the nuance.

This is largely because of the Kaisen part: 廻戦 is not an actual word, with its two kanji being an archaic one roughly having nuances of "revolve, continuous, drawn-out, walking around aimlessly," and a less archaic one roughly meaning "war, fight, battle." This might refer to JJK's nonstop action, or it might refer to the endless and tiring "war" that Jujutsu sorcerers go through. I'll explain a bit: in sports, a 回戦/Kaisen is used to describe the parts in a match where teams take turns going on offence and defence. Most obvious example is baseball when the two teams take turns on the two roles between each inning. Except for that series, the 回/kai is replaced with the more archaic 廻/kai . You can surmise the rest from here.

Consider this: Japanese writers and publishers like to be fancy with their titles. So if the original Japanese isn't enough to distinguish themselves, come up with an English title too, in the "I know how to use English, I'm fancy!" manner. On one hand you have those who do good diligence and come up with neat titles that actually function in true English like "The Ramparts of Ice" and "Witch Watch". On the other hand, you have plenty of munted attempts, whether it's because the translation is too literal and have no idea what sounds good/unique/nuanced in English, or because they're tryhard. I'll put "Attack on Titan" under this category Without working with someone who actually have good command of English (like English localisers), it winds up being a roulette of what they come up with. (But even then, lazy English localisers can still come up with horrible ones like "Demon Slayer")

Ok pausing mid ep to comment this cos the multiple choice situation in her mind during a social interaction is too damn relatable. It’s kinda why I get so exhausted from socializing cos imagine having that many questions back to back to back as I try to figure out the correct response while still trying to manage eye contact ratio and picking up social cues, on top of actually trying to actually listen to what they’re saying. I have a feeling Koyuki will be my Taira of this show if that’s the kind of thoughts she has

Not a single decent person in middle school. Little wonder Koyuki had built a rampart of ice around her, and was now known as the ' ice queen '. Fortunately, she's in a better spot in high school with a bestie in Miki. Meanwhile, Minato & Mr. Giraffe looked to be pretty nice blokes even if they're not acquainted with her yet. Will the three successfully tear her rampart down? The author behind Polar Opposites teaming up with the studio behind Sentenced to Be a Hero resulted in a solid product. The scene of Koyuki slowly building up the rampart was a particular highlight.

I'm happy that after just wrapping up You and I Are Polar Opposites we get to watch yet another Kocho Asagawa anime adaption about teens figuring themselves and their relationships out. It's interesting seeing how you can see the artist in the character designs even if the vibes are kind of different. It's not uncommon for boys to tease girls...but that doesn't mean girls are going to be comfortable with it or play it off like they're expected to do. As was the case with Koyuki Hikawa (Anna Nagase!). Now she carries a chilly, "ice queen," vibe and a whole wall of ice that separates her from most people. Although way to show your "real" face by trying to smile and getting caught by Minato (Shoya Chiba) who seems like your typical extrovert popular guy and his super tall friend Yota. The OP is a nice, fun, and really youth-filled sequence of Koyuki and her core friend group having fun and doing typical teen stuff together along with some other colorful characters! Miki Azumi (Fuka Izumi!) is the class idol, but despite appearances in school she is ALSO Koyuki's best friend and one of the few people she's her most genuine self around. Miki herself is actually much more of a goofball who is having an identity crisis between her normal personality and the "class idol" she appears as to the other girls, but at least she has Koyuki to vent to. Seems like Yota AKA Mr. Giraffe is friends with Miki too, the way he knew her by her first name and was in her classroom? Though he did do the classic Shojo girl catch, even if he's so tall that he hit Koyuki with her tall creature trauma. Doesn't help that he's missing contacts so he has to REALLY get in close to see something. But he seems like a genuinely nice guy. Koyuki didn't think she'd ever have to deal with Minato again, like she doesn't really feel like she needs to interact or get along with anyone versus being content by herself, but that's not going to stop him from seeking her out and trying to get along with her whether she's comfortable or not. And she is DEFINITELY not comfortable when his other guy friends show up and she gets bad middle school flashbacks. If only her attempt at an exit was as cute as it was in her head...though Minato can tell she's putting up some emotional walls. Middle school really went downhill for Koyuki. Attention from boys she didn't want, getting confessed too by Igarashi (Chiaki Kobayashi) that had one girl single her out and make her ostracized in school, some family drama (?), and then a tense altercation at school. Is it any wonder she's so chilly and holding on to a lot of emtoional trauma? Which just makes it even worse when she has to put up with the sleazy pick-up artists who won't take no for an answer. At least Mr. Giraffe can come save her! Assuming he actually saw her! But don't worry, he came back! The ED is more serious and melancholy with the kids and Koyuki's ramparts, but the visuals are still quite nice.

It also looks like he's drawn his actual height instead of making guys look ridiculously tall and then reading that they're all 5'10 to 6'. The most ridiculous version of that I've seen was the old Rurouni Kenshin anime where this giant of a man who looks like he is double the height and triple the width of everybody else and the fan book says he's 6'4, which is my height - and only young children are half my height and nobody is a third my width. That kind of thing is drawn like it's trying to convey how it feels for kids to be around tall people, where their imaginations get heavily mixed into their memories.

Surprised Koyuki I just recently found out that this is from the same author as You and I are Polar Opposites, and while this does certainly have a more serious vibe , I can see that it has the excellent character writing I love Asagawa-sensei for in Polar Opposites. Considering the shit Koyuki had to go through back in middle school , it's not surprising that she started building a wall around her to keep people out , except Miki, who she seems to only genuinely smile for. Based on that opening , I guess Koyuki is also about to let in Amamiya and Mr. Giraffe in, but it might take a bit, considering she just put up another wall around her when Amamiya was trying to get to know her. I am also intrigued by those flashbacks. It looks like shit went down when Koyuki was in middle school, and I really want to learn what happened back then. Definitely a strong start, and by the looks of this first episode, I can already tell Asagawa-sensei is also gonna deliver again with this story.

Not to get too bogged down in Polar Opposites comparisons, but this feels like a story centered around an introvert while Polar Opposites centered around an extrovert and Koyuki is closer to Taira as a character than she is to Miyuki. You can also tell with the presentation; An earthier color palette compared to Polar's pastels, softer piano ost instead of chiptunes. Obviously this is more to do with the different staff in charge of both but you can tell in the difference in the material. We're also getting a more serious backstory and actually introducing unlikable characters which Polar tended to avoid. It's hard to tell where the story's going romantically. Both male leads seemed to have some chemistry but the ost seems to be framing this as more of a general friend group instead of hinting at any pairings

an introvert autistic FTFY The dichotomy between "introvert" and "extravert" is not real, it doesn't exist. Introversion and extraversion describe behaviors, not people. Put a bunch of "introverts" with common interests in the same room and they'll exhibit extraverted behaviors. Extraversion is dependent on social and cognitive compatibility and conditioning, not some sort of inherent personality trait.

Character cm ft-in Koyuki Hikawa 152 cm 4'11.8" Minato Amamiya 176 cm 5'9.3" Yota Hino 189 cm 6'2.4" I don’t understand why Netflix doesn’t have nicer overlays. Going from { You and I Are Polar Opposites } and it’s largely pretty great overlays, I’m sad on that front. But this’s gorgeous! Novelbright OP sounds so nice! Oh Miki is so relatable in that whole “autocorrect” with wanting to be yourself but it’s such a strong compulsion to “autocorrect” to a different persona around others. It’s such a dissociating experience. And it fucking sucks when this happens when you need to show your authentic self at appointments but you “autocorrect”, so now it takes you who knows how long to be diagnosed. I just watched the { Heaven’s Design Team } episode that showed giraffes! Koyuki should be protected at all costs . So we had Auntie Makio who’s largely headcanoned as ND. Does Ramparts of Ice have any ND-headcanoned characters, I wonder. Koyuki deserved so much better in her middle school years—and presently. So I’m fucking delighted she has Miki. I didn’t expect Miki to be so relatable. Even in that quick moment in her divulging her own personality struggles, that resonated deeply . I’m glad they both have each other to be authentic with, but I’m excited to see both of them make connections with people they can let their walls down for. I’m very curious who Miki will be able to turn off the “autocorrect” for next. I wish ill things on those grown men harassing Koyuki. Let em rot 😒

Koyuki strikes me very hard as traumatized autistic introvert. We get to see her literally ask herself, “How would a ‘normal’ person respond in this social situation?” Then she tries to be normal… and fails with a natural 1 on her masking-check d20. Hard to get more characteristically autistic than that. She’s a modern-setting Maomao-like, and Maomao is autistic AF. Also, yes, in the street scene with the dudes pursuing her, I was saying aloud, “Kick them. Punch them. Bite them. Break their wrists. Whatever it takes.” Unless you’re literally saving someone from harm, DON’T FUCKING TOUCH STRANGERS FFS, especially when they’ve told you to eff off. Great googly moogly, men.

I like how Koyuki just blurted out “Mr. Giraffe” at the end. Her inner-thoughts spilled out in that moment. Judging from all those flashbacks, Koyuki really didn’t have a good time in middle school. Aside from getting teased over her short stature, it appears as if the worst bullying was the result of jealousy. Koyuki’s female classmates couldn’t stand that this good-looking boy took a liking to her. Not to mention that she’d seemed quite troubled by his (aggressive) flirting herself.

People think guys teasing/flirting with girls is fun or cute but not everyone is going to be comfortable/receptive towards it, especially if it comes with expectations they don't want to have anything to do with like a guy being interested in them when they don't feel the same and suddenly all the girls hate her. I also think that scene with her family meant there was some family drama happening them. She talked to Miki about her mom not being home so I get the vibe her dad might've left.

Two people can have fun being flirty if they’re both into each other. Such behaviour will become increasingly off-putting if it’s a one -sided crush however. Koyuki looked extremely uncomfortable when he’d grabbed onto her hand. (…) I get the vibe her dad might’ve left. Yeah, this apology from Koyuki’s father suggests that he’d done something terribly wrong. Enough to make her cry. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d cheated on his wife, and Koyuki’s parents went on to get separated.

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I learned here from the comments that this is from the same author as You And I Are Polar Opposites, and it really shows. It has the same level of amazing character interactions that are neither dragged out nor annoying. It really takes some skill to write characters so well. I'm really digging Koyuki's character and how her past shapes her present attitude towards other people. I like how she is not entirely antisocial, but has a good friend in Miki. However, she is putting up the wall, for a good reason. These two guys in the after credit scene who were harassing her really made me so mad!

Giraffe-san and Koyuki are so fun together. I love how she sees him and how nice and casual he is on his side. Agasawa sensei showing how to write great character interactions once again (technically for the first time, I guess, since this was written before Polar Opposites). Koyuki is such a well-written ND character. Her dilemmas on how to deal with social situations are so real. And her friend who gets pegged as an idol but who just wants to goof off is great too. Feel so bad for Koyuki having gone through some really bad times in middle school. We see this has probably directly led to those ramparts of ice she's erected around her, which now make people think of her as some ice queen. Looking forward to seeing her thaw around the right people. We already saw her bright smiles when with Miki and she's not so icy around Giraffe-san either. Amamiya isn't one of the chosen though and makes her uncomfortable. We haven't seen much of him so far. Looking forward to finding out more in the coming episodes. I was super hyped for this one and the adaptation has been ace so far. Especially loved the music choices and the comic timing. So glad we get another great anime based on Agasawa sensei's work.

I do find the contrast between Koyuki’s reactions to Mr. Giraffe and Amamiya very interesting. Typically, you’d expect both boys to be set up as future love interests of her. Koyuki feels so uncomfortable around Amamiya that this outcome is hard to picture, whereas she already seems to get along pretty well with Mr. Giraffe. Their personalities seem to fit a lot better. That said, Koyuki would probably first need to overcome some childhood trauma (haha).

Amamiya is just too bright and friendly for Koyuki to handle. A mellow personality like Giraffe-san is just easier to be around for an introvert like her (so relatable tbh). He sets her at ease and she doesn't have to do those mental gymnastics of trying to figure out how to respond. I like this contrast. They're both nice guys but the difference in their personalities makes such a difference in how Koyuki feels around them. Very true to life. Some people are just on the right wavelength naturally and with others it takes work.

I am not sure how to explain it, but the setting feels pretty relatable. I know it's an anime, but it doesn't feel like a typical high school RomCom in terms of tone. Which I like a lot, as the characters feel relatable. Furthermore, I wonder if the theme of this show will be about how the characters protect themselves. We see Koyuki, and she had a miserable experience in middle school. Thus she puts a wall around her to push people away. People call her the queen, but I wonder why it isn't ice queen. In high school, first impressions can make a big impact, as we see in the episode for Koyuki. Of course, at the end, when she was in trouble, her pushing people away didn't help because there are people IRL that won't work on it. That kind of situation can be very scary. Well, at least Giraffe-kun came at the end. Meanwhile, we see for her friend Miki she puts on an act of who she really is. She says she is more of a gorilla than the school idol. I think that is a very interesting contrast. I wonder how it digs into that.

Yeah, there's a sense of groundness it has compared to other angsty stories than usually seen in other works of fiction but of course it's probably building up to be something bigger eventually. That said I do think it starting off feeling this grounded eases us into the setting and characters much more naturally than how a high school setting normally would by umm...having the characters be straight up cliche's at first, but thankfully the main character here is the core-player here in the debut episode and not to mention that there's a sense of mystery to her while also being relatable to the point that her experience as a whole feels familar. If that makes sense haha.

I wouldn't think he did the same thing. He clearly does not have big issues with being close. So I doubt he put up a wall. At best in the past (but it might also just be that he knew someone similar before). Personally, my idea is that the people not only differ in what their different personalities are, but also why they have them in the first place. We know Koyuki build up a wall because she was bullied in middle school. But she doesn't actually want to be seen that way. Which is different to her friend Miki. Because while it seems that this wrong impression was on accident originally, she also said that, once she enters a classroom, she switches herself as well. So it might be that she kind of enjoys being seen this way and therefore plays the idol role. But she is also conflicted if it is okay to be seen as a totally different person (so it's not like she is not conflicted at all when it comes to that, probably because there is always a chance that people can see "your true self" and then what happens). With the boys, we don't know enough yet to build a theory I feel, but I wouldn't be surprised if the reasoning is different for them.