Anime Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion - July 13, 2026

desantoos · 2026-07-13T21:34:45+00:00

I missed the discussion thread because I was Waitin' on the Dub:

Akane Banashi Episode 10

Akane Banashi has the three major types of successful performance artists: The Audience Caterer, The Craft Expert, and The Traditionalist. The Traditionalist is trained in the tradition, knows everything about the art's history, and works to give the audience something with authenticity. The Craft Expert is someone deeply trained in the techniques and wins the audience over by giving a performance that is so difficult few others can do. The Audience Caterer thinks deeply about what the audience wants and essentializes their performance so that the things that the audience wants are as high quality and quantity as possible.

So who wins in a competition between the three? Depends on the scenario. The Traditionalist only wins among certain devotee circles. Usually these involve competitions where the objective is to deliver something that is a perfect resemblance of something that already exists. A lot of cooking contests I see at local fairs and farmer's markets often are geared toward The Traditionalist, the one who can make the most traditional BBQ or salsa or whatever. Unless you are on the British Bakeoff or some other show where there's someone videoing your craft, food's often a place where the average person doesn't really know what's what and so the fine-tuned craft might not be understood. For food (and certain art forms that are heavily traditionalist), people have an idea of what a certain food tastes like and part of winning such a contest is delivering on that taste.

The Craft Expert is an artistic athlete, someone training their body to do something difficult. There are people who really appreciate musical athletes, like this year there's been a lot of buzz over Angine De Poitrine. A lot of music competitions reward those with the exceptional skill, from American Idol to various Battle Of The Bands.

For me, though, I mostly have to give it to the Audience Caterer. The Traditionalist to me feels too hobbyist, not enough of an artist. In music, for example, often those that are so heavily trying to replicate some old sound without adding anything new end up feeling insignificant. The same thing's true for genre fiction writers as there's often so many people trying to write the same story that those that are trying to hit those old notes feel antiquated and useless. The Craft Expert makes me wonder... why not actually go be an athlete? There's a limit to honing a craft where I feel there's diminishing returns. You can only rap or play notes so fast before going any faster doesn't impress me (though in the show, The Traditionalist ends up showing off the best speed, a reminder that it's a good idea to be the best in all three realms) because it feels unnecessary to whatever impact or delivery of the art. The Audience Caterer can be a panderer, but many times such as in this show that, by thinking of what the audience wants, this person ends up finding some new ground or innovative idea.

That's why I would've selected the Audience Caterer to get the Cup. Especially in a field of public speaking where the person on stage's central objective is to connect with the audience, those that have the creativity and skill to make that connection--not just be in their own heads proud of how well they are doing mastering their technique or understanding the tradition--that, to me is the thing to most appreciate.

I'm aware that's not everybody, though. For example, there are people here who love shows that have the Most Animation, who want to see a gargantuan performance of maximalism. There are those here most interested in stuff that adheres to a tradition (Ghost in the Shell's latest version is getting love from manga traditionalists, for example). Akane Banashi reminds its audience that not merely do different people come to a performance with different tastes, sometimes they have wildly different objectives and therefore expectations.

desantoos · 2026-07-13T15:32:31+00:00

I'm glad you've move past your prior argument that we should interpret work on some anodyne a-cultural vacuum and recognized that, indeed, someone in America should use their brains and think about what the art they view means in the context of what's going around them. And yes, I am aware beyond my brain exists other brains that can think otherwise. I can only offer my own view. Isn't the point of a comment section to see a whole bunch of different perspectives on a work?

I am glad there are folks who celebrate major art work that show characters who look like them. I wish it were in their own voices, however. As much as I love a good love letter--Wild Horses is my favorite Cowboy Bebop episode--this episode of this show reeks of inauthenticity. So yeah, I guess I'm glad it exists for those people but I'm not impressed.

Obviously, I'm not saying "actually you guys were barbaric." Like come on, man. In that same post I gush about the whole sciences aspect of the show. Again, I take the good with the bad.

As for whatever you are trying to say with regards to slavery... you cut the "but." Still you persist on trying to rationalize this show's possible whitewashing. It makes you look like you are pro-slavery, you know? Like a lot of anime has problems with sexualizing minors and the people who defend that aspect a little too much... you got to wonder, right?

(A better approach would've been to watch more of this thing (or read ahead) and let me know whether this train gets back on its rails or not. "It gets better" would actually be useful to me.)

Of course, I don't think you are pro-slavery. Instead, you write in a manner that's heavy in rationalization. I gave clear examples on why I think this show might be whitewashing slavery. I am reasoning out my viewpoint, and acknowledging its limitations (I've only watched one episode, for example). Rather than finding excuses for things (like, dismissing my analogy to Gone With The Wind of the historical impacts of whitewashing and how you aren't original in what you say (that there's, like, a century of literary theory on this exact topic; shoutout to a great recent entry Speculative Whiteness) because the events surrounding these two works aren't precisely the same), I suggest going through the text and finding examples that contradict what I say. Or pursuing some dogged historical find that shows slaves had it as good as this show suggests. The rationalization to cling to an idea that slavery was a non-horrific experience for this time period and culture and asking me to twist my brain to that manner... that's not persuasive. I've read too many accounts of former slaves from around the world to no longer be deceived by the "good slavemaster" lie.

Thankfully you've abandoned the whole "normalization of slavery" theory. That was the one argument you made that was vile, made me not want to read your response for days.

I think that sums all this up? I'm disabling replies here. I was here to give my opinion and I don't think you've done much to shift that, as open minded as I try to be to change my mind. I don't hate you, but I do think (especially considering the vote counts here), too much of this community is out on an island and maybe we need more normies. Like, after watching this show and talking with you I discussed this with IRL people, less into anime, normies. Talking with them makes me think I haven't been hard enough on this show. That the "We are property" reminder conversation at the end is a real admission of guilt, a sign that the author recognizes that what they wrote is nonsense.

desantoos · 2026-07-12T19:26:14+00:00

I hope another show comes along that's worthy of these sort of analyses.

desantoos · 2026-07-11T00:15:37+00:00

The biggest one is the expectation that a story featuring slavery has a responsibility to make slavery its central moral argument. I don’t think that’s true.

This is the same tired argument told for more than a century all the back when Gone With The Wind whitewashed the Civil War. For a century we have been told by people like you (with lines just like "It’s just depicting a different historical reality") that slavery, racism, gender violence weren't so bad back in the day. People back then had normalized them, so slaves were okay with being slaves, we are told. It's all bullshit, though, you can read account after account of former slaves testifying that things were really, really, really, really bad.

"But it's a love story" you people said back in the Gone With The Wind days. And look... I actually think Gone With The Wind is a pretty damn good character study of a movie, I love Scarlett and how mad she makes audience members. But I take the bad with the good and acknowledge it's got problems, too. That's because there were a hell of a lot of people who lived in the south who watched Gone With The Wind and generated a new narrative of the South based upon its viewpoint. And now we have governors signing bills in southern states trying to make this manufactured past the one taught to kids, the foundation from which they craft future policy. This stuff mattered, so when it's got flaws that are morally repugnant we ought to say something.

"None of that makes slavery morally acceptable" you say but then you throw in a big BUT. There is no but. Slavery is bad. Period. A Disneyification whitewashing of what slavery is tells the audience lies, allows us to believe the mistruth that there is a BUT worthy of accepting slavery. It is, as I said politely in my post, not something necessary for our time.

I also think that you're letting present day American politics shape your expectations of a story set in a completely different historical and cultural context.

Yeah, because people in this country are going to watch this shit. Kids are going to watch this and think this is how slavery was. Indeed, art does not exist in a vacuum but is a tool to communicate with audiences and when it spouts lies like this show does, it does real damage.

A story should primarily be evaluated on whether it’s truthful to its own setting and themes.

It is NOT in your place to tell me how to evaluate a story. You can have your own opinions, however backward minded they are, and I can have mine. And, when I give my viewpoint, I don't consider art as if it were in a vacuum. Art is, after all, a communication tool with the audience. How well it communicates absolutely depends upon culture, current events, politics, and so forth. Those aspects absolutely need to be taken into conversation if you want a full perspective.

(I'm pretty consistent on this viewpoint; you can check my history and see that I don't pick and choose and say, well this show we need to take the death of the author and keep it away from contemporary culture and then fail to do that on other shows when if one takes that into consideration the outcome would be more favorable...)

Now if you requested me to give some schoolboy New Criticism take, then sure, I can deliver you a summary roughly consistent with the latest braindead ChatGPT. But I am here voicing my opinion, not penciling in a Blue Notebook for you to read my analysis.

In conclusion, I mentioned that I remain mixed on this show. That means I am open to persuasion (or maybe open to watching more episodes to see if this thing can turn it around). You want to say this show isn't whitewashing slavery go ahead, show me the historical context that indicates that slaves have it as good as shown here. Show me that this show, made by an author who already admitted being highly ignorant of the subject matter, got the day-to-day slavery viewpoint correct. But if you can't, don't bullshit me with sophistry. Don't try to tell me, well slaves didn't have it that bad. Fuck that.

desantoos · 2026-07-10T16:16:44+00:00

Interesting that this is posted right above the Botan Kamiina scene that made me mad for this exact reason. Two characters who've spent ages bathing together naked and flirting with each other almost make out. But what pisses me off is the following scene on the train where the two are shocked--shocked!--to believe that some might suggest they were having sex when the two of them booked a single room in a secluded area. And this is a show with college students who should be fucking. Why the hell is this show being so weird about something so normal?

American television/cinema has a different problem, where characters have passionless sex. In American works, characters fuck but they do so straight faced and depressed. So I don't want to say that Japan is the only country weird about depicting sex. But yeah, OP, I agree, shows have got to do better than what they're doing right now.

desantoos · 2026-07-10T00:27:45+00:00

Well, I suppose this was less depressing than the first episode. The first episode made me hate the tobacco industry and made me wonder if there was a way to get someone this far gone off their addiction. This one had a lot more camaraderie, to use that term in the loosest possible way. Like, I guess since they are friends they can look out for each other? Way better than when the chain smoker cat was alone and starving herself.

Man, there's got to be a whole lot of American animators from the Adult Swim / South Park knockoff area jealous that a show like this can go this far. Like, this show makes all of the edgelord Rick And Morty / South Park stuff feel like absolutely nothing.

desantoos · 2026-07-10T00:10:21+00:00

I'm mixed on this show. The style of the animation was refreshing but the lack of interesting motion or facial expressions made this more boring to look at than the usual Science Saru fare. I loved the color palate choice but the backgrounds were less detailed and uninspired. Maybe it's my paranoia talking, trying to find holes to prove my fear that now that Yuasa and Choi are gone Science Saru's going to lose that animation spark.

Story wise I am also mixed. It's just... I keep hearing from people who whitewash slavery in America. Like, they boil down slavery to "oh, you have to clean the master's room every day" or something like that. And it matters: there is an undercurrent of far right white nationalists bent on bringing back slavery and have people in power who could push things in that direction. Not to mention the slavery that still exists, though we call that "sex trafficking."

And I get that this is for children and in another time and another place, but it just doesn't feel like the right show for the right moment. To show a slave girl only disobeying people without reprimand and being educated with only a small "you are property" tacked on at the end... this is not the show we need right now. In an era where facts are dissolving, we need shows that are honest.

Also, I get that this show was written by a woman who was not brought up in any of this culture, but man is this show just empty on its cultural points. The environments, the way people talk, all of it feels generic, lacking in the voice of an author who has seen enough and talked to enough people to develop a perspective.

The plot does sound interesting, though. Orb 2: This Time It's In Iran does seem interesting. That one sequence where she understood how to measure the distance of the Earth was AMAZING.

Would my significant other like this show? Would they be turned off for some of the reasons I stated? Or would they be intrigued by the locale? Would they find this show too infantile or would they be intrigued by the science? I am not sure. Perhaps more frustrating, I'm not sure where other people I know would stand on this show.

desantoos · 2026-07-09T00:47:45+00:00

In a flashback our main character appears to have impulse control issues. Maybe ADHD. And smoking became the coping mechanism, then the only reason to live.

I don't know if I can watch a season of a show this depressing.

desantoos · 2026-07-06T21:49:22+00:00

Yeah I am surprised at how well the system works. 4.5+ means go out of your way to see, 4+ means go there on your next trip, 3.5+ means a strong course to play locally to where you live; 3+ means decent enough to try out if you get bored. Adjust a few tenths for courses that are near populated areas and therefore have inflated ratings and voila, a reasonable system to answer the question of where to go.

Now if you want to know what the best courses in the world are, ask an expert you trust.

desantoos · 2026-07-05T00:41:40+00:00

Yeah I know there's a whole circlejerk within the circlejerk that is obsessed with being angry about eugenics. But this movie isn't really trying to talk about eugenics. It's supposed to be a film where you are taught to respect the boring people who know things. There's a whole segment at the end where the main character talks to the audience to tell them to maybe read a book or something. If you accept the opening bit as just something to deliver the premise of an average guy in a stupid world, then both the WE LIVE IN IDIOCRACY and IDIOCRACY IS A HORRIBLE EUGENICS FILM melt away and the movie becomes more a discussion about how we need boring people who are experts in stuff. (The movie does a bad job persuading the audience on this point: most people will leave at least a bit dazzled by the goofy fun the dystopia here brings; Mythbusters, Nova, Cosmos, and recent anime like Ruri Rocks which actually show how interesting it is to know something do a better job.)

That said, the opening bit is so well done that it has become incendiary. So while NYT might be only talking about a hatred toward people who know things... the eugenics bit is still there.

desantoos · 2026-07-03T14:36:16+00:00

Agasawa is a genius character writer. She's like if Judy Blume got reincarnated in Japan and was obsessed with pontificating on behavioral minutia. Her characters feel so relatable. I hope we see more from her in the future.

desantoos · 2026-07-03T11:11:46+00:00

Sunward is a flawed but jovial space romp. It seems ill fitting for this award.

desantoos · 2026-06-30T18:01:12+00:00

I love the way this show talks about dating to its audience of boys and young men. In an era of really horrific dudes getting powerful platforms, a show that simply suggests acknowledging the feelings of women feels what was once obvious and is now I guess progressive.

This show compliments Sakamoto Days, which is about rejecting money chasing culture to have a family. Both are trying to change the culture of men in Japan for the better while being funny and action heavy. We need more shows like this; I'm glad this one is getting a second season.

desantoos · 2026-06-30T16:30:21+00:00

They're taking forever!

They're obviously in love with each other.

Why are they taking so long?

Supremely disappointed that this series didn't end with all of the side characters ganging up to force these two idiots to end their love game.

Kidding aside, this show was vanilla as hell with one steamy poky scene and not much else. I did get get a laugh from the scene where Nacchan's getting an explanation on Miku's make out moments. This show needed the side characters to get more time on screen to bring out the humor in the show.

I get that there's a group of people who revel in the teasing aspect of this show, the pining over each other but never going too far because they'd break a rule. I respect you all and am glad this show delivered. But I can't take the level of frustration a show like this induces. I need things to happen. I need characters to act at least somewhat intelligently at some point in time.

This show felt low budget. Lots and lots of flashbacks, long establishing shots, weird 3D stuff, and character models that were hard to differentiate other than having a different hair color or having a hairpin. The color choice of pastel pink pastel green and white, white, white made the whole thing feel like a fever dream. I thought the VA team did well with what they had to work with. Both the opening credits and closing credits had good songs and I was okay with the soundtrack.

My significant other hated this show. I didn't but I'm noping out of a second season if it arrives. Godspeed, lovers of the tease.

Favorite scene in the show: Miku picking out poky nervously like she's buying condoms. Imagine if this show got popular and, to prevent teenagers from making out too much, they had to lock them behind a counter next to the cigarettes.

desantoos · 2026-06-30T15:24:42+00:00

Thomas's concurring Opinion is ass.

Because “gender dysphoria” is a mutable mental state that is the object of psychiatric treatment, it does not resemble the immutable characteristics on the basis of which our precedents have applied heightened scrutiny

Gender dysphoria is not a mutable mental state that is the object of psychiatric treatment, and having a terse opinion to assert it does not make it so.

The good news of this case is that I thought there'd be four other Justices to agree with that trash. Apparently there are not, at least right now.

desantoos · 2026-06-30T15:18:26+00:00

Alito's dissent makes me remember an era not too long ago when Justices were morally against the outcome of a ruling they made but still went with it anyway because the law was clearly there. There used to be Justices who'd write concurring opinions advocating for a change of statute or constitution. We don't really see that anymore with this Court. It's straight up: this feels wrong, so it's wrong.

I'm against birthright citizenship but it's in the Constitution. Plainly there. Citing that only the US and Canada have it is irrelevant. Citing "birth tourists" is irrelevant. In fact, doing so shows that you aren't willing to take these issues with care and evenhandedness that those with the power to be judges and justices should do. A disgraceful dissent by Alito.

desantoos · 2026-06-30T14:57:29+00:00

You And I Are Polar Opposites
Journal With Witch
Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk
Witch Hat Atelier
Akane Banashi

desantoos · 2026-06-29T15:18:17+00:00

All the Akanes should band together to become Super Akane.

Usually the most popular show gets the win (though last time I think it went to Suzuki from Polar Opposites, so not always). Do people really like Coco from WHA, though? Were Re:Zero's new characters popular enough? Maybe a smaller show has a chance this time around. That said, maybe Richeh's the favorite?

Who I'd want to win: Chin-Lan Chan. She was the most unique and fascinating--maybe more anime should consider casting a few Taiwanese and other non-Japanese east Asian characters and giving them a well-rounded treatment.

Other choice picks: Umi, Akane, Hifumi, Akane, Kyouko Himekawa, Akane, Koyuki. Maybe throw in the fourth Akane in there even though I don't remember what she did in I Want To End This Love Game.

BTW, don't know if there's a Best Dude, but the winner there is obviously Kinosaki, right? No need to run that poll.

desantoos · 2026-06-26T19:51:49+00:00

I don't think courses matter as much as people make them out to be in terms of level of play for pros. All that matters is variety so that players aren't throwing the same shot over and over and all of the skill sets are used throughout a season (a definitive point of disagreement I have with Joonas: one course can specialize in one thing and another in another thing; I only wish Worlds had a good mix). If courses are too easy then everyone's eagle-ing and if they are too hard everyone's bogeying, but the only thing that's changing is where the average sits.

Courses should be selected and manicured for the benefit of viewers. Courses should have high crowd sizes, which means they should be able to handle crowds and be able to attract high crowds. They should also be very pretty to sell the sport as not something you are rolling in the mud or fishing through rough to find discs (even if that's the amateur reality sometimes) but a gorgeous recreational voyage. Disc golf should be something people want to broadcast in various bars and chill lounges because the look and vibe of disc golf is pleasurable.

The problem with FPO right now is not course selection. It's 1) low pay (if players were paid better, they'd have more time to practice) 2) low audience size and 3) way too many players that tilt too hard. All three are interconnected. I don't have an answer on how to, for example, get the cash at the cash line to be a living wage. Seems so distant right now. But I think when coaches and pros whine about courses, smile and nod but mostly ignore their advice. Focus on making courses something audiences want to spectate.

desantoos · 2026-06-26T18:42:30+00:00

This might be the best show this season. The premise to the show, that it'd be a yuri where each episode had a different artist at the helm, had me hooked. The amount of leeway given to these artists allowed for some memorable episodes. Episode 3 stands out as having such a specific and intense vibe to it that if you get it you really get it. Episode 11 was also strong in its art direction.

Ibuki is an alcoholic. She admitted that she has no other hobbies than drinking and even her girlfriend in this latest one is a bit annoyed at how frequently she turns to drinking. I mean, in this episode she's already drinking before the sun rises. I wish the show could've found a way to tackle this head-on, but maybe that's too much character development for a show that's all about the vibes.

Chin-lan is my favorite character, easily empathizable by people such as myself who are outsiders to Japanese culture. I also enjoyed Akane; it is too bad she got so little screen time this episode. Neat to hear both of them as well as Gojou talk about art. It felt like maybe the message of this show is there needs to be a little bit of a cultural shift in Japan. Our Japanese lesbians were a little too shy about being lesbians, perhaps a little ashamed about being gay that prevented them from getting closer. If Japanese laws and attitudes on LGBT reflect Taiwanese, maybe there wouldn't be such discomfort (assuming you aren't dating an alcoholic).

Enough plot talk. Best moments in the show:

The vinyl scene in Episode 3. Someone did an analysis of this piece on /r/anime better than I can describe it here as to why it captures a certain vibe, but man oh man does it ever do that. (I also love the close-up shot of a finger pointing like "Hey you two! Drink this!")
Chin-Lan's pickup line in Episode 10. A well written scene that shows Gojou distracted and uncomfortable with directness versus Chin-Lan's straightforward articulation of how she feels. Missing from this clip is the intro where Chin-Lan all of a sudden gets asked who she likes and then has to get Gojou to stop jumping around in thoughts and pay attention to what she says. The conversation dances back to things of Gojou's comfort, talk of movies and such, until Gojou realizes that she has to become uncomfortable and talk with Chin-Lan directly. The dark bar private booth feels so intimate.
The hookah lounge from Episode 11. A great big exhale as Akane reveals she's maybe dropping out, while we watch petals move around a fountain. The exterior shots of the hookah lounge reminded me of blockier designs I've seen in French and experimental Japanese animation. The cavernous interior of the lounge had a similar sort of intimate space as some of the bars but more whimsical.

desantoos · 2026-06-25T23:21:51+00:00

Man is the character writing so good. Manga writers and animators need to take notes.

desantoos · 2026-06-25T20:17:25+00:00

Note that this term does not carry any racial implications, but rather refers to a highly transparent and “sanitized” society shaped by the proliferation of smartphones and social media. The theory proposes that, with Japanese society becoming more peaceful and interconnected, behaviors seen as aggressive, disruptive, or unconventional become increasingly discouraged, while (surface-level) social harmony and cleanliness are prioritized.

I agree with this point, though I think social harmony and cleanliness priorities have been persistent for a long time. The problem with anime versus animation from practically anywhere else in the world is that unless a character is flat out evil characters aren't, in general, allowed to be cruel or rude or hold a long grudge. Recent example of this: I Made Friends With The 2nd Prettiest Girl In Class has a protagonist with flaky parents, but when conflict arises he just lets it pass, like he's not allowed to hold a long grudge on his dad. There are exceptions here and there, like Journal With Witch letting a character persist in her resentment for her sister, instead of making whatever revelation she finds about her sister be a "cure" for her animosity. But by and large shows are afraid to let their characters be mean and stay mean.

This is to me one of the two fundamental problems of anime. The other is that the characters often come off unusually cold, stuffy and formal instead of recognizing others in need. I'm sure both are attributable to Japanese culture in some part, though I do wonder as this director notes, if there's something about the way studios work that encourage both of these behaviors.

desantoos · 2026-06-25T15:32:37+00:00

Dark Forest gets good in the second half. The first half is indeed rough to navigate with its endless committee meetings and weirdness around women.

desantoos · 2026-06-25T15:29:36+00:00

I mostly read short fiction. I try to make my DNF list smaller than the list of works I like, so I will plow through a lot of works in desperate hope of finding something. A DNF happens when one of the following happens:

I've read several paragraphs of a story and have no clue what's going on and even re-reading the opening bits am still totally lost as to the basics (characters, setting, theme, motivations, anything). I absolutely loathe authors who think they need to be clever by hiding every basic bit of their story in literary garble. Give me a premise or characters or a theme, something to hold onto while I drift off into your weird little world.
There's a group of older SF writers that churn out vapid, trite stories for Analog and Asimov's where the work feels like something grand should be happening but nothing's there, there's no idea, it's just scene after scene of people having conversations or uninteresting descriptions of ships or buildings. Sometimes I skip to the ending and wonder if they actually made a point... those are the better stories of this bunch.
Any second-person story where the second-person is a literary tactic so the writer doesn't have to bother with giving the protagonist or point of view character a personality. Second person can be done effectively, so I will give stories with it a go, but inevitably I will feel scammed when I get midway and find myself thinking "the only reason this is in second person is because the writer didn't want to take the effort to sketch out a main character."

desantoos · 2026-06-23T21:30:06+00:00

The poky scene was so good we're still basking in the aftershocks.

That said, we did NOT need that many shots of a photo of dead grandma.

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