Tumblr Giving Me That GOOD Stuff Randomly.

Me: I've only seen like a handful of Anbai content on here lemme go check the tags to see if there's any more I missed

Me: who is Anpanman-

Baiken and Anji are extremely “How to Rest” by the Crane Wives coded. Like thematically, that song and Mirror of the World both share very closely related messages. It’s crazy. I’m going crazy. You can try to avoid it all you want but love will always come back. And it will hurt. But it will be worth it. Anyways how’s your day going

If I had a nickel for every time someone's told me a Crane Wives song reminded them of Baiken (and Anji to an extent) I'd have three nickels now....

edit: ran it by my friend who suggested the other two, they see the vision. (Also you are so very very valid OP I totally get where you're coming from)

do you a favourite bit of official anji or baiken art?

I like this one from Λ Core! They're just chillin', he's got a bird, and she's got that small smile looking at him.

Hello, I just wanted to say that 1. Your art is so good, and 2. I've got that Wolf Alice song stuck in my head now lol. It really is an Anbai song and also peak

hehehehe yeeeeeesssss perfect! (Also realizing I never linked the other two songs I was thinking about, but if you want them they're The Last Man on Earth and No Hard Feelings)

What got you shipping anbai? I’m new here and they seem cute ^^ /gen

Oh god-

where do I even begin....

TLDR/Short version of it: Friend talked about Guilty Gear, I found out about Baiken, watched Another Story and some arcade mode interactions and song breakdowns and read some comments and it got me wondering "what is going on with these two~", I go on ao3, there is a little over 20 fics. I got really frustrated, made content of them myself, fell further down the rabbit hole, now I'm here.

The long and very rambly version of why I ship them that you can read under the cut if you wanna ↓

Firstly, a few things that I really enjoy about them (to get this out of the way-) is that they contrast and compliment each other really, really well if you think about it. Which I have. A lot.

I know I've said some of these before but like; the Sun and Moon motifs and how it literally shows up in their Overdrives (and Anji's command...grab...thingy(? idk strive terminology) also has a moon briefly appear hmmmmmwhatsupwiththat-), the Butterfly and Flower symbolism associated with them respectively and how in a sense, one helps the other grow, the classic red oni blue oni dynamic, cat and dog, Anji's graceful elegance and calm demeanor to go with Baiken's rugged toughness and fiery temper, blah blah blah the list goes on you get the idea. They're opposites, but they match each other and balance each other out, like yin and yang.

There's also their (strive) songs! Rock Parade is...extremely obvious lmao. I know folks like to joke about it but, dude. Single footstep carries two hearts? The promise he made to her? (Whatever that was I wanna knOW-) It really does feel like more than just a song about a crush he has on her, this man is dedicated. And with Mirror of the World it basically encapsulates Baiken's whole journey, going from someone who's resigned herself to a life of revenge to ultimately breaking out of her self imposed "exile" in the end. Also the line "If I had a comrade, I wonder what I would tell them." and I'm over here yelling "YOU HAVE ONE! HE IS RIGHT THERE-" (I actually think the song is also about Delilah, but still kinda about him too, it's about both of them they're both the comrade how about that)

But to get to the heart of it all (and to also get extremely corny here), there's this sort of earnestness to their relationship that I really admire. Every now and then, there's a pairing that comes around and makes me go Ooga Booga for the better part of a year because it's just got a lot of good stuff to chew on. Angst? Drama? Some form of love that isn't just inherently romantic but something more? I'm eating it up and annoying my friends to death with it. And I think to me that really shows in their XX arcade mode endings, (BOTH of their "canon" ones btw THEY GET TWO ENDINGS TOGETHER) where Anji gives up what he was doing so he can follow Baiken and make sure she's actually living instead of just wandering by herself. This one thing he's been chasing for a while now, probably even his dream job of learning the secrets of the universe (or whatever Asuka was teaching him), and he just gives it up because he can't stand to see someone he loves dedicate her life to something that will inevitably destroy her in the end. "I don't want you to die." I think about this so often it's not even funny.

(And y'know, he also gives her the choice to just get rid of him if she doesn't want him around anymore, and idk about you, but I think that's very sexy of him and also very telling of her that she hasn't done it yet but moving on-)

Delilah ultimately ties it all together because at the end of Another Story, Baiken becomes to Delilah what Anji was to her all those years ago. A friend, a companion, someone to lean on. There's the line "She won't die well unless she finds a better way to live." before May mentions that's what Anji had said about her, and suddenly she gets it now. (I think) It's the final push that gets her to save Delilah from winding up in the same situation she's been stuck in for years and in the end, finally let go of her revenge.

No that does not have to be inherently romantic in the slightest, you can do whatever you want with that information or interpret it however you want and I encourage that, but also it's driving me insane whenever I think about it. He cares about her SO much, even if he has a weird way of showing it. I don't even think I can begin to do it justice trying to describe how it makes me feel but hopefully that can give you (and maybe some other folks who have made it this far hello) some insight into why I like this ship so much.

Also their strive in-game interactions are really flirty.

Delamblah for your TL today

Bonus:

i love your posts so much please don't get struck down by lightning

I make no promises

hello!!! I love AnBai and your work with all my heart! This is exactly how I saw them, but I couldn't implement them! THANKS FOR THAT!!

I recently realized that AnBai really remind me of the characters from Lilo & Stitch by David Kawena and Nani Pelekai. It seems to me that there is a similar dynamic in their relationship (only their homeland has not been destroyed). What do you think?

Honest to god I have genuinely thought about doing some Lilo and Stitch stuff for them, although it was mainly in the context of Baiken and Delilah as Nani and Lilo (Manager Vampire, record player, that sorta thing) But now that you mention it, Anji as David does make a lot of sense. I think if they were in a more modern world he'd probably go out of his way to make sure she had opportunities for jobs, get her to take breaks when needed, just generally be there for support without asking much in return... ...except for maybe one date, if she's up for it.

Yea, you like baiken. But did you trick yourself into learning several Japanese buhdist prayers so you could sing the Japanese sections of mirror of the world????(

Seriously tho I will never get enough of your art it's awesome

Afraid I have not, I will simply have to practice (thank you!)

HIII OMG i literally just saw the ao3 message so sorry this is kinda late but im so glad you made a tumblr!!! this is cowboylesbian from there btw :)

YOU

But yeah hi!! Finally got on here! Pleasure seeing you as always :D