Konshuu Volume 60, Issue 2 by Cal Animage Alpha

Hua Cheng

Tian Guan Ci Fu

Art By Cas Geiger

DESTINY

Gamblers

Hypnosis Mic, Enstars

Art By Tatum Ekstrom

Lu He 2nd Year, English

DEATH NOTE: LIGHT'S BIGGEST GAMBLES

Writer

Because telling everyone he was Kira wasn't enough.

SPOILERS FOR DEATH NOTE

Death Note ranks within the top ten highest rated animes of all time. If you’ve ever watched the ultra-popular show, you’re probably no stranger to all the strings the main character, Light, pulls in order to get away with upholding Kira’s world. Although it was Light’s egoistic nature and his lack of attention to detail that ultimately led to his downfall, the character constantly makes gambles that very well could have gone sideways. Here are some of the moments that contributed to his demise - or that could very well have been the spark for his downfall.

1. Telling Naomi Misora his identity. Remember that scene where Light had seconds to make a plan before he was caught by the police? Oh, that’s right – there are too many of those to count. As a repeat namedrop offender, Light constantly reverts to one of two phrases – “I win!” or “I’m Kira” – when he thinks he has the situation in the bag. Luckily for Light, his killing of Naomi Misora was a situation where he had the upper hand, but telling Misora “I’m Kira” while a police officer walked by was an unnecessary gamble that could have cost Light his life. This scene was a 10 for Light’s quick thinking and acting skills, but the gamble was one that was unnecessary.

2. Handing himself over.

Light suggesting that he “might” be Kira? Even L saw through this straight away. This was a gamble that surprisingly worked in Light’s favor, although the risk factors were clearly present: at best, Light drew everyone’s attention to the fact that he was very possibly related to Kira, and at worst, L could have deduced something from observing Light’s sudden change in demeanor halfway through imprisonment.

3. Relinquishing memory of the death note.

In the same vein, letting go of all memory of the death note was a major gamble for Light. Who knew when the notebook would return to Light’s hands, and under what conditions he might touch it? Not to mention that Light was working with L at the time, and was actively using his deductive skills to assist the investigation draw closer to Kira’s discovery - and unwittingly drawing closer to his own demise. This gamble won out in the end, though, because Light’s lack of memory around being Kira threw L off for a moment and was enough to convince some members of the police force that Light was innocent.

4. Relying on Rem to kill L.

This was a startlingly creative backup plan – with no other resources at his immediate disposal, Light took a chance on Rem and banked on Rem prioritizing Misa’s freedom. This could have easily gone wrong had Rem not been devoted to Misa to the degree that Light surmised.

5. Selecting Teru Mikami to fill in as Kira.

This was the final gamble that ultimately led to Light’s downfall. While it seems tempting to classify this gamble in a negative light because of its contribution to Light’s downfall, this gamble actually paid off surprisingly well in other aspects. Don’t forget the adrenaline-inducing cell phone scenes with Kiyomi Takada, where Mikami immediately understood the loaded phrases Light was throwing at him – Mikami and Light worked excellently as a team, and Light was right to take a chance on Mikami as his understudy.

ABSOLUTE PUNISHMENT FROM A PERFECT CRIMINAL

Rahm Jethani

3rd Year, Japanese

SPOILERS FOR BUNGO STRAY DOGS

Writer

The ending of Bungou Stray Dogs’s second season left a few unanswered questions, but the main one was: who sabotaged the fall of Moby Dick, and why? This mystery is what the bulk of the anime’s third season spends its time unfurling. It uses the familiar and linear structure established in the second season to layer its drama and create heightened tensions in the third season. And, while the third season answers the questions posed at the end of season two, along with providing an action-filled and thrilling narrative, nothing in this season eclipses the scenic brilliance or plot revelations about the threat everyone faces quite like the introduction of its terrifying villain, Fyodor Dostoevsky.

While Dostoevsky has a brutal, and perhaps “overpowered” ability, that being ‘Crime and Punishment,’ it is his devious intellect and manipulation that grants him most of his power and status. Nowhere can this be best demonstrated than with his interactions with one of Port Mafia’s executives, Ace. In the scene that first introduces his intelligence to the audience, he is locked in a private casino owned by Ace. Ace is presented to be completely in control (although perhaps not to an audience member - his cockiness is too pretentious for him not to be killed off quickly), with him even crashing a wine bottle against Dostoevsky’s head with no retaliation. Even afterwards, when one of Ace’s servants talks to Dostoevsky with some level of solidarity, Ace is secretly monitoring the audio of the conversation. From this overheard conversation, Ace hears Dostoevsky “reveal” his power - to trap people in his consciousness.

This is, of course, a lie. Dostoevsky knew the room was being monitored, and purposely laid misinformation to work to his advantage. Following this conversation, Dostoevsky took the cork of the shattered wine bottle and changed the foundation of the room’s lock so that ignorantly using a key from the inside would not work. Then, he proceeded to memorize the entirety of the back of Ace’s deck of cards from their unique flaws and scratches, so as to convince Ace that his knowledge of them was unnatural. While this meticulous memorization is presented to the viewers as the only thing Dostoevsky chooses to memorize, the fact he either could have memorized other aspects of the room for possible manipulation or was so thorough in his assessment of Ace’s character as a gambler that he knew he’d only need to memorize the backs of the cards is astounding. Regardless, all of Dostoevsky’s preparation pays off, and he so strongly convinces Ace that they are both trapped in his subconscious that Ace thinks the only way out into reality is separation - in other words, death. As a result, Ace hangs himself in the real world, thinking it is still a fantasy. This is what makes Fyodor Dostoevsky so terrifying, and what makes this scene so striking. Without even having to use any amount of supernatural power, and just simply relying on intellect without raising a finger against Ace, Fyodor Dostoevsky kills a man effortlessly and almost trivially.

Dostoevsky is the Moriarty to Dazai's Holmes.

1st Year, Japanese

Gambling or not, Japanese Riichi Mahjong is fun.

Writer

KAIJI, THE MOST 'HUMAN-LIKE'

SPOILERS FOR KAIJI (ANIME)

If you loved watching Squid Game, you may or may not know that its concept of death games is highly inspired by the manga Kaiji, written and illustrated by Nobuyuki Fukumoto. From 1996 until today, Kaiji has since come out with six main series and two spin-offs, undoubtedly making it one of the best gambling-related works produced, (even though the artwork might put many people off). As a Mahjong player, I love and am often inspired by Fukumoto's Akagi, a Mahjong gambling manga. Still, I must credit Kaiji for being the most 'human-like' gambler in anime.

Kaiji is not a genius at gambling. In fact, he's a piece of trash–he’s jobless, does nothing daily, and is jealous of the rich. He was unable to repay the sudden, overwhelming debt and had no choice but to get involved in gambling (organized by Teiai Financial Group, the last boss of this series), and unfortunately, got addicted to it. He's weak, always crying when he loses or gets betrayed. But all these flaws make him human-like, and we only start respecting him when we see his ability to rise from death when he's pushed into a desperate situation.

But let’s get to the games. Kaiji is forced to participate in a gambling game on a cruise ship. He faces off against other desperate losers. The game's rules are basically the same as the "rock, paper, scissors" game with three lives and four cards each for Rock/Paper/Scissors, plus funds offered by Teiai Financial Group to use while being on the ship. The winners can get freed from debts and return to their everyday lives, while the losers will be sent to an underground prison. The game's rules seem childish. However, after a few episodes, you'll begin to admire the design: limited resources, combined with exchanging funds and information between participants, create a brilliant competitive environment. Participants can cheat, betray teammates, and manipulate minds to escape safely. These are all considered human nature by Kazutaka Hyodo, the owner of Teiai Financial Group, as he believes wealth is everything and controls humanity, marked by his words in a later game: “If the poor unite and rebel, declaring that they don’t need money, the king will be

vanquished. But the poor pursue money in the hopes of becoming king. This strengthens the existence of the current king. As long as you don’t break out of that fruitless paradox of wanting money, you can never overthrow the king but be chained forever.” But Kaiji is challenging this with his 'human-like' characteristic. He is too kind, always trusts his teammates, and unavoidably gets betrayed and almost pushed to death. But only in such a desperate situation does he become the scariest gambler and find a way to escape even though we, as audiences, might give up. He even trusted the ruthless organizer and tried to follow the rules. Still, he always forgot that cheating from those who designed the gambling game is natural. As audiences, we could laugh at Kaiji's naivety, but at the same time, we must applaud this 'human-like' nature. It makes me admire him more and

ZEYANG ZHU

'HUMAN-LIKE' GAMBLER

more when I see his excellent counter attacking methods after figuring out the organizer's cheating.

However, such 'human-like' characteristics could destroy him when he wins, and the ending of the first season is what I never expected in anime but like to see from a gambler protagonist - painful failure. After a stressful card game with Yukio Tonegawa, the second most powerful man in Teiai Financial Group and winning twenty million yen, which could help him repay all his debt and even earn something from the organizer, he chose to go further and challenge Hyodo Kazutaka. In a typical gambling anime, another hard-win victory and a happy ending are what you expect from a protagonist. But Kaiji is human–he's nowhere as sensitive as the boss's level. Kaiji creates an almost perfect way of cheating and designs a gambling game. Still, the boss quickly sees through his trick and finds a way to, in return, perform a trick to invalidate Kaiji's trick and also perform his cheat (I'll not go into details; watch that part. It's brilliant). As a result, Kaiji loses all his money and four fingers and is pushed into the

underground hell in Season 2. But another desperate situation goes on, and we can't even catch a break to see how Kaiji rises again. This series is full of such unexpected turns, and that's probably the reason for its popularity in Japan.

Let's conclude my recommendation. This series focuses on the characters' psychological events, creating tension, but you can never predict how it will go on. Kaiji represents the kindness of human nature in the heavy and dark theme of gambling, even through all these failures. This is a perfect anime for us to avoid gambling because not every one of us is Kaiji in a desperate situation. The manga is still far away from finishing, and I can't even predict how it will go on. Still, I'm excited to see whether Kaiji will play a revenge gambling game with the boss and how it will end. While we often dream of becoming the protagonist of a gambling anime and winning everything, can’t we remember that there is a protagonist called Kaiji, who failed miserably on multiple occasions but still refused to completely sell his soul to wealth?

IN DEFENSE OF ROY FE HEROES

WAI KWAN WU 4th Year, Molecular Cell Biology

Writer

If you were to, at any given time, take one look at the latest drama surrounding Fire Emblem Heroes, the premier gacha game based on the esteemed Fire Emblem franchise, you would almost inevitably find salt around which characters get representation. Overrepresented dev-favorite character gets another powercreep seasonal alt? Blasphemy! Majorly plot relevant, yet slightly-lacking-in-broad-appeal, cornerstone character gets shafted yet again? Incredulous! Such is the cycle for many characters that are involved in FEH. Yet, as somebody wise once said, in this age, the only thing worse than drama is having no drama, and that can only be apt to describe the character of Roy Fire Emblem. A character that forever exists within the limbo of kinda-popular-but-not-that-popular, the only spotlight that Roy gets to enjoy in the minds of the brainrot minds of the FEH community is that of racism and "all Roys are bad" memes. Yet, Roy, and all of his 5 different versions, are all importantly incredible to the history of the game, and deserves far more attention and credit than the world gives him for.

When looking at the upper echelons of the highly represented characters of FEH, nearly every character has at least one iteration that is deeply flawed. You have the likes of Brave Lyn or Duo Chrom that upset the meta for months or even years, or the baffling choices behind those like Resplendent Lucina. Others, like Camilla, unfortunately fare even worse. However, Roy stands as a shining exception: each one of his five alts are carefully and uniquely conceptualized, bringing something new to the table without fail. Artwork wise, there are no misses: whether it be Wada Sachiko's stunning painterly sensibilities in her depictions of Brave and Groom Roy, or the bright and fun command of color in Meka or BUNBUN's renditions. Aesthetically, each alt is highly transformative as well: Valentines Roy's art repurposes his classic color palette into a snazzy fit for the festivities, while Resplendent and Groom Roys incorporate additional color language with whites and blues to great effect.

A common complaint levied against Roy is that his units tend to be very weak in the meta; however, these criticisms are often misguided as each unit has had an important place within the course of the game. Valentines and Groom Roys displayed a strong understanding of the game trends: the former being the

the only unit daring enough to arrive as a bow cavalry unit following Brave Lyn's dominating stint, but with a defensive focus to distinguish himself from the Brave unit's prowess, while the latter was the pioneer to the axe cavalry trends of Summer 2022, yet is one of the few to stand the test of time for his unique Harmonic effect. Legendary Roy is another that still sees effective use today, with his refined kit (the first non-terrible one for a DC unit) giving him just enough tools to function effectively with the proper support. And on the topic of refines, "his father stole his sword" memes, referring to how Eliwood and Brave Roy received the same weapon refine, tend to incorrectly push down Brave Roy due to the former's accessibility - while it is true that Eliwood is easier to obtain, this often bleeds into the incorrect rhetoric that Eliwood is objectively stronger than Brave Roy. In fact, when given equal investment, Brave Roy easily triumphs due to his superior speed. And such is the observation of a +10 Brave Roy owner of over five years.

And lastly, Roy's alts are simply just wholesome. Compared to the likes of Hot Springs Camilla that threatened the collapse of the internet, Roy's iterations can be best described as sugar, spice, and everything nice. Brave Roy is a heartwarming take on a CYL character donning the outfits of their loved ones: Eliwood's garb and sword being just a touch too large for him is just an adorable little detail, while "Roy's our boy!" being an actual voiceline for him in the game is just simply hilarious. Other iterations are also in the similar vein of Good Boy™, like how Groom Roy is actually a duo unit that fights alongside his father, or how Valentines Roy spends a long time looking for the perfect gift in the story only to reveal that it was meant for the player all along. Who could possibly hate that? The world can only await with bated breath as it prepares for Emblem Roy's eventual addition to the game. When the time comes, surely he will be the one to bring forth peace, solve world hunger, water your crops, etc.

ANIME’S WILD CARDS

Writer SAMUEL KIM

3rd Year, Philosophy

Jesters play tricks

One of my favorite character tropes in anime is the wild card. In playing card games, a wild card is generally understood to be a card which can be used to represent any other card. In some cases, wild cards like the Joker can also be used as the highest trump card. Wild cards are the embodiment of chaos, usually representing a rejection of hierarchy. They seem to be almost alien to the rules, functioning like no other card before it. This makes them both exciting and unpredictable. To understand what this looks like in anime characters, I’ve picked out a few paradigm examples from some of my favorite series.

Hunter x Hunter’s Hisoka, for one, works as a wild card in so many ways. Even outside his appearance of the clown aesthetic and playing card theme, Hisoka parallels the simplicity of wildcards like the Joker. Much like his nen ability, which has the property of both rubber and gum, Hisoka is an extremely malleable character. In one arc he’s the main villain, in another an ally to the protagonist. His simple motivation of wanting to fight whoever is strongest makes him a surprisingly flexible addition to Hunter x Hunter’s cast. In a similar vein, wild cards are often used either as substitute card, meaning they can be the ultimate trump or the weakest cards to be avoided. By definition, wild cards can be suited to any role, and Hisoka is no different. Hisoka’s own place in the Phantom Troupe reflects this too. Because of their unique nature, wild cards are sometimes banned or left out in play. They seem to be outside the rules sometimes, much like how Hisoka is not truly a member of the Phantom Troupe.

Another one of my favorite examples of this trope would be Izaya Orihara from the Durara series. Much like Hisoka, the reason why Izaya is a wild card has to do with his thoroughly unpredictable nature. Izaya’s sole interest is humanity itself, and this entails him intentionally putting people in precarious situations so he can observe and enjoy their reaction. In his opening scene, Izaya convinces a girl to jump off a rooftop for his own amusement. Like with Hisoka, a simple motivation defined by self interest works in tandem with his unpredictable nature to create a true wild card. Izaya will play any role throughout the story, and rarely lets his true feelings betray him. Except of course when he’s around Shizou Heiwajima, the only person Izaya truly hates. If Izaya is a wild card, then Shizuo must be an ace.

Wild cards like Hisoka and Izaya are so fun to watch because they seem to throw a wrench into everyone’s plans. Just when you think you’ve gotten yourself a winning hand, the wild card flips everything on its head.

Honkai: Star Rail

Art By Catherine Chen

Anime Destiny

is an annual anime convention hosted, organized, and planned by UC Berkeley’s very own student run anime club, Cal Animage Alpha. Not much is documented on Cal Animage Alpha’s history, but we do know that it is one of America’s oldest anime clubs, having been founded in 1989 as the first Cal Animage club formed at various Californian universities. Some Cal Animage Alpha alumni have even gone on to found Anime Expo, Fanime, and Crunchyroll.

Building on the momentum of previous years, Anime Destiny continues to grow in size and quality. Since last year’s event, our club has made numerous positive strides and exciting developments. As always, we offer weekly anime showings, trivia nights, and semesterly trips to Japantown, but this year we’ve also had fantastic collaborations with other clubs, like Rhythm Games and Berkeley and DICA. We also wish to continue our publication of Konshuu, Cal Animage Alpha’s very own magazine publication that features a variety of articles and art pieces from our talented staff. Each issue is about 8-12 pages long and follows a central theme; for example, this Anime Destiny pamphlet follows the theme of the year, Casino.

As always, we want to recognize the hard work and dedication of every department within Cal Animage Alpha–Anime Destiny Planner, Events, Konshuu, Publicity, Tech, and Video Creation. Each and every officer’s contribution was essential to making this year’s Anime Destiny possible. And of course, we’d love to extend a heartfelt thanks to our incredible attendees, whose continued support and enthusiasm allow us to put on this convention year after year.