I’m not sure if you noticed, but I’ve got a sweet new masthead for this feature, done by my friend Jon Spencer. At least that’s what I assume his name is. I just wanted to give him a shout out. It’s gotten me jazzed about getting revving up the engine and taking a tour around […]
Feb 2, 2020 • Subscribe
More like this
The Otakusphere: Bad manufacturing, inner lives and a whole lot of spiky hair
So I have to start by being honest. I feel like every time I do one of these lately, I’m apologizing for skipping a week. I suppose really…
The Futility of Gatekeeping in Anime and Criticism of it.
All right, I admit, I’ve read one too many posts complaining about gatekeeping in anime. And so instead of leaving a comment that could be construed as disrespectful…
Revisiting my view on Anime Gatekeeping
I once again revisit my views on gatekeeping in the anime community. It's good to think about these things once in a while.
The politics of 80s anime: the 198X controversy
A common narrative of Japanese social history and anime history holds that, starting from the 1980’s, the Japanese population has gotten increasingly distant from politics. The rise of…
The Otakusphere: So many controversies and Eva
Good morning, afternoon or evening where you are in the world. It’s Sunday in my corner of the Hinterlands, which means it’s time for another trip around The…
The Otakusphere: Education, media and pretty pictures
It’s Sunday again, so I’m back for another tour around the Otakusphere, and I feel like every time I start looking around, I come up with a bevy…
The Otakusphere: Love, love, love and loneliness
It looks like I’m doomed. I simply can’t escape Valentine’s Day this week. Love (or at least cards and romance shows) is in the air across The Otakusphere…
Politics in art and the value of escapism
Warning: it’s a real load of bullshit this time. I talk about politics, angry people on the internet, and the end of the world, and it’s probably a…
Monster Politics
Bobby Pickett's next big hit! My Hero Academia 240 - 1:24Food Wars 315.3 - 17:57EDENS ZERO 58 - 40:04Mission: Yozakura Family 1 - 50:13Beast Children 13 - 60:06Samurai 8…
The Promised Neverland, The Seven Deadly Sins, Black Clover, EDENS ZERO, My Hero Academia
The Otakusphere: Spring reviews are in the air and watch more anime
Good morning or afternoon or evening or whatever time you’re reading this. I think I’ve covered it all, so let’s start over. Good day to you! GOOD DAY!…
The Otakusphere: Anime tiddies, Saiyans aren’t apples and the struggle is real
It’s been a rough week in my real life, so I ended up finishing my week off with a couple beers and playing Judgment. That’s why I’m late…
When should gatekeeping matter?
As a young girl I was very connected to Anime. I constantly watched it, read it, listened to the music, and spent hours a day trying to learn…
Birdy Wings #10 — Minigolf Physics
Even Battle Golf has more accurate physics than this. Impressions: Pretty much the same as last week as this dumb caddy chronicle continues. If two weeks ago,…
Reflections of an old anime fan: On gatekeeping
For the last couple weeks I’ve been thinking about gatekeeping, inspired mostly be Irina’s post about why she doesn’t participate in it. Here’s the thing. There was a…
The Otakusphere: Pride, Feelings and APPLE PICKING BEAM!
Good morning, afternoon or evening wherever you are in the world. By my count, today is Sunday, so it’s time to take another trip around The Otakusphere. It’s…
The Otakusphere: Mecha, coronavirus and too many beers
I normally limit myself to a single beer in one 24-hour period. Mostly, this is because I’m no longer 23 and can’t just bounce back from a night…
The Otakusphere: Censorship, cultural exchange and reckless fire
Good morning and welcome to another beautiful day in the Otakusphere. Today is a great day. First of all, we had snow. I was worried we were just…
The Otakusphere: Good romances, bad detectives and realism
Good morning or afternoon or evening or whatever time it may be for everyone out there in Internet-land. It’s Sunday here in my corner of the hinterlands, so…
The Otakusphere: Controversy, more controversy and FIVE ALIVE!
Good morning, afternoon or evening to everyone out there on the internet. It’s Sunday in my corner of the hinterlands, which means it’s time for another trip around…
Legend of the Crystals: Final Fantasy, Flowers of Evil, Mirai
The Otakusphere: Borderlands, navel gazing and kicking the tires
So my put-put engine got itself in gear, and I’m back to blogging. 2020 was a rough year for me in real life, and when the going gets…
The Otakusphere: The XXL version
For the first time in a long time, I binged an anime series. I started watching Bunny Girl Senpai on Friday night after wrapping up Gargantia. Then on…
The Angel Next Door #01 — Improper Pizza Physics
It's even more upsetting on the closeup. Impressions: Yes, the pizza thing is the most notable part of the episode. It's another one of those transparent wish fulfillment…
Heian Period Sexual Politics, Marriage, and Sex
The Heian period (794 to 1185) imported many ideas and conventions from China. This marked the flowering of Japanese ideals of beauty, from Cherry Blossom Viewing Festivals to…
Baek XX – Gangs, Special Forces and Politics
I was waiting for a few chapters to build up for me to read this one and I have to say that the PTJ company doesn’t disappoint at…
Anime World Order Show # 222 – So Much For the Laws of Physics!
In this episode, Daryl reviews a title suggested by our top Patreon backers as he reviews the now beloved super robot OVA series from 1998, Shin Getter Robo,…
Getter Robo, Getter Robo: Armageddon, New Getter Robo, Armageddon
Top anime characters with brown hair and brown eyes
Anime characters with brown hair and brown eyes may seem run of the mill on paper, but they are anything but!
Attack on Titan, Bungo Stray Dogs, Death Note, Fruits Basket, Horimiya
On physics in Bunny Girl Senpai
I’m at episode 5 of Bunny Girl Senpai, and it has been the distillation of everything I liked about the Monogatari series. The conversations between the characters in…
The Otakusphere: Video gaymes, bad romance and punching the heavens
Good morning, afternoon or evening to everyone out there in internetland. It’s Sunday in my corner of the hinterlands, so that means it’s time for another trip around…
The Otakusphere: Polyamory, School Days and beware the grease apocalypse
Good morning, afternoon or evening wherever you are in the world. It’s Sunday in my corner of the hinterlands, so that means it’s time to see what is…
Fruits Basket, School Days, Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan
The Otakusphere: Kyoto, Nendroids and let’s all be nice
Here we are on another Sunday in the early afternoon getting ready to take a casual tour around the Otakusphere. My week has been pretty good. I’m now…
The Otakusphere: Inside baseball, Christian symbolism and neat blogs
Yes this is another Sunday morning. Do people still take Sunday drives anymore. I got to thinking about this after listening to one of my old favorite AMVs.…
The Otakusphere: Free markets, Artsy films and fine hats
I’m a man of many habits. Some — like going to work — are very prosocial and make sure I can continue to survive. Some — like playing…
The Otakusphere: Burning justice, long titles and eyebrow judging
So here we are at the end of another week and at the end of my vacation. Overall, I give this vacation a B+. I managed to finish…
The Otakusphere: Dead Women, Con Reports and Happy Holidays!
Over here in the states, we’re just wrapping up Thanksgiving and heading into my favorite time of year. That’s right, it’s holiday shopping time. It’s the time of…
The Otakusphere: Mecha, magical girls and my own shortcomings
Good morning, afternoon or evening where you are out there in internetland. It’s Sunday in my corner of the hinterlands, which means it’s time for another edition of…
The Otakusphere: Rooster tails, odd taxis and runic empires
Good morning, afternoon or evening wherever you are in the world. It’s Sunday in my corner of the hinterlands, which means it’s time for another trip around The…
The Otakusphere: Speculation, space trains and fezes are cool
Here we are again at the end of the latest week of coronavirus craziness. We should coin the term coronavirus cabin fever because alliteration is awesome. Or cool…
Pride, Policing, and the Conservative Politics of My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia, in its proud declarations of right and wrong, good and evil, heroism and villainy, argues how the world should be. Understanding how My Hero Academia…
Pop Culture References And Infantilization Are The Bane Of Politics
What if the sad thing on the news could be made funny with le heckin‘ pop culture reference tho???
The Otakusphere: Let’s get personal
It’s the beginning of March. The days are getting longer. It’s getting warmer here in the Northwestern U.S., and I can see the dreaded summer months just past…
This Week in Anime - The Politics of RWBY: Ice Queendom
Nick and Chris check out the series reimagining, its attempts to discuss racism, and its sick references to Cool Boarders 2.
The Otakusphere: The mindworms are here
You ever have one of those songs that you love, but if people caught you singing it out loud they’d give you some weird looks. I’ve got a…
Brace the Gates: A very, VERY brief discussion about Gatekeeping in Anime
I wanted to use a picture from YU-GI-OH! but I decided against it. This has been something that has been stewing in the back of my mind for…
Tokyo’s 24th Ward #10 — And Now, American Politics
Strangely both out of left field and comically on the nose. Aiming to have the spring season preview up Sunday. All I'll say for now is good…
12 anime characters with pink hair
Some anime characters with pink hair radiate positive energy, but others not so much... What do you think about these pink-haired characters?
12 anime characters with blue hair
Colour blue and its shades can be captivating, just like these anime characters with this hair colour mentioned in this list!
Curse Your Hair and Its Silky Smoothness: The Severing Crime Edge Anime Review
IntroductionHaimura Kiri is high school student, no surprise there. Though appearing to be a normal high school student after a few minutes shows us a perversion for hair,…
The Otakusphere: Semantics, Internet culture and a dash of anxiety
I have zero theme for this week in The Otakusphere. It’s a combination of exceptionally personal posts next to posts about what you need to know to be…
The Otakusphere: Likes, dislikes and that’s just your opinion, man
It’s another week, and I have, by all measures, managed to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune without shuffling off of this mortal coil. So let’s…
The Otakusphere: Shinsengumi, old news and pining for an acorn
It’s a bright, shiny Easter morning, and I have been gifted with chocolate and a week off from work. The start of my vacations always have so much…