Nerdz of the Decade!!! The votes for what our podcast name on our D&A Studios Youtube channel will be, have finally come in! We also want to say that on this unusual Thanksgiving that we’re thankful for fans like you guys; for all of the love and support that you’ve given to us, and for just being awesome! On our new podcast Nerdz of the Decade; we’ll be talking about anime titles and moments from our favorite decades (90’s and early 2000’s) with a splash of current titles as well. There will even be some topics about classic gaming, Marvel, and DC.
We can’t thank you guys enough for helping us pick out our podcast name; which is set to launch the week before our 5th Anniversary in January. (We’ll keep you posted should the date change.)
Until our next post, stay safe this holiday season. 🙂
As we get closer and closer to the end of the ‘anything-can-happen’ 2020 year, the collection of shows and anime titles that have come about can be described in a number of ways. Although there wasn’t anything that would make you jump out of your seat, there are a few titles that are worth taking a shot at. The two that come to mind for us would be Tower of God, as well as The Misfit of Demon Academy. Both of which are great titles that are well worth taking a shot at if you haven’t seen them already, and later down the line we may be doing a review on them.
With COVID-19 still running amok worldwide, several studios have been doing everything they can to release more episodes and content of their shows; and have adjusted pretty well. This year hasn’t been an easy one to say the least, but with sneak peeks and trailers coming out for shows and movies already on the horizon, anime studios and creators are already setting their sights on the 2021 season. With that in mind, here are just a couple trailers that we’ve stumbled upon…
SAO…is back!
Many of us have already seen the first season of Sword Art Online, however when it comes to the Light Novel (SAO: Progressive) the anime left a lot of details in the story out of the picture. Progressive dives deeper into the story through the POV of Asuna and Kirito, as they travel floor-by-floor defeating monsters and bosses while bringing some much needed character development – that was seemingly transparent in the original anime series. SAO: Progressive comes out 2021!
Things get serious…
If you’ve seen the first season of Cells at Work that teaches how the cells in your body handle viruses and deceases, then the second season takes a much darker turn. We’re not ones to tell how others should live their lives, but after seeing this trailer, it might change your lifestyle.
Although we don’t know too much about this series, we know that it started out as a video game on the Nintendo DS; that’s now an animated series!
The story of the Sins continues…
A lot of Sin’s fans weren’t too happy about how last season ended; especially in terms of the quality. Hopefully a redemption story is made this season as the saga of the Sins continues!
2020 has its fair share of hits and misses this season, but as we look ahead to what 2021 will bring, the overall mood and morale of the anime community from our view is filled with excitement and curiosity. We can hardly wait for the day when we can return to the nerdy sanctuaries called “Anime Conventions”, but until that day, stay safe and watch more anime! 😉
Hey guys! Before we start we just want to give our thoughts and prayers to the Morrow family; as we discovered that Kirby Morrow who you may know as the Ocean Dub DBZ’s Goku, has passed away. He was also heard in the original Inuyasha and was set to reprise his role in Yashahime. It’s a big loss in the anime and voice acting community, but we remember him as being awesome to his friends, his fans, and his family. May he Rest in Piece.
This year has been crazy, and although many of us won’t be able to gather together this Thanksgiving (unless your family members don’t live very far from you), be sure to give em’ a call or chat with them on Zoom. As for us we’ll not only be serving our family’s great food n’ good turkey, but we’ve got some more content comin’ your way!
Take the Saiyan Prince for example…
Best Frienemies: D&A’s Top 5 Anime Villains Who Became Good Guys!
Every action or fantasy anime title ever made has this one particular troupe! The main character beats the s%@! out of the main villain of a story arc, and a couple arcs later they become allies and even friends. Well, we pick our Top 5 anime villains who have done this and are now fighting for justice and peace alongside the hero whom they tried to kill!
What’s out there…?
What New / Re-Newed Shows To Watch For In 2021!
You’ve probably seen several promos for new anime titles and re-newed shows making their way to the Winter 2020/2021 season. We’ll poke around the internet to discover what will be coming to your favorite anime streaming services early next year!
Step into a New Dimension!
Our New Podcast Name Revealed!!
We’ve been wrecking our brains trying to find a good name for a podcast, and after putting out several polls on our social media pages, we may have an idea on what to call our new podcast name! Next week we do the grand unveiling of our new podcast!
That’s all we’ve got for now, see you guys next week! 🙂
Man, in the past 30 days a lot of stuff has happened and judging by how everyone is feeling right now; we REALLY want this year to end. Back in January after New Year’s Eve it seemed that people already planned out their whole year; as to what they were going to do, where they wanted to go, and what goals that wanted to achieve. Then BAM! Outta the blue COVID-19 happened. We knew it was bad when it ran amok in Wuhan, and now America is looking at 12 million infected, and over 250,000+ dead. Believe me, I hate talking about this as much as anyone; especially with the holidays coming up and now being told that we may not be able to physically sit next to out-of-town family this year.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure half the country is flipping 2020 off as I speak (and they have every right to) but if there’s one thing that we need more than a haircut or a night out at the club, it’s self-care. COVID has put our mental and emotional patience to the test to see how long it would take for us to crack, and while it seems like our social lives have forcibly taken a hiatus, many of us are getting creative. Take Yours Truly for example; before COVID A. Goldman and I were ready to kick off our 2020 anime convention tour at our usual cons, but since they’ve all been canned we decided to focus on our online presence. Eight months later I officially got the DJ system I’ve always wanted, and now we’re in the process of starting our own nerdy podcast!
DJ Avidd Minddset! My Pioneer XDJ-XZ
Right now we got to do our best to turn this lemon that is 2020, into the lemonade that will fuel our passions, aspirations, and goals in 2021 and beyond. This year was crazy (and here’s hoping and praying that 2021 will be a little less crazy), but hopefully we’ve learned something about our selves through this trying experience that we pray we don’t have to go through again – but should it happen, we’ll be better prepared.
If you haven’t in awhile, check on your loved ones by calling them or texting them. Zoom or chat with friends through Discord, or even look for something funny to watch on youtube. If you’re an anime fan, triple down on some new shows coming out or stream them on Netflix. As for me and A. Goldman, we’ll keep bringing you the best nerdy content that we can provide; and that’s a promise we intend to keep! 😉
What was though to be just a one-season series has now turned into somewhat of a franchise. Danmachi or Is It Wrong To Try And Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon now has three (and soon to be four) seasons, a spin-off series, a movie, and a couple of video and mobile games. This is one of our favorite series as many of you guys might have noticed and even seen our Hestia plushie in many of our Instagram videos, as well as on all of our other social media. Next month we revisit the first season of the franchise as we review it episode-by-episode; as we take you through the journey of how the Hestia Familia got started! We know this was kinda short but that’s our announcement for today. As always stay safe and stay nerdy! 😉
The first season of when Hestia became the Bestia! 😉
There comes a time in every teenager’s life where they stumble across something that arouses their interest. Depending what kind of parents they have or how they react to the thing that they’re aroused by, it’ll cause them to do one of two things; ask them about it, or explore on their own. When it comes to anime every fan has their favorite titles that they love to indulge in, however once those fans reach a “certain age” they may have stumbled across the endless fanservice pool that is the Harem/Ecchi genre.
with these type of shows pushing the envelope every day, there’s one of them that takes the envelope and sets it on fire. We’ve seen a lot of crazy over-the-top shows, but next to Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, this is one that we’re pretty sure a large percentage of the anime community has seen.
We’re talking about Shimoneta!
That’s one way to get a ‘head’ in life…XP
This is one of those anime titles that takes the history of something and kinda drops it on its head. The whole show is centered on Japan’s strict censorship through their government, and how a group of ‘rag-tag’ degenerates pretty much give em’ the finger to their laws and restrictions about what they can and cannot say, dress, or do. (Remember how the FCC used to be 20 years ago?)
Seeing that this series takes place in 2030 (about ten years from now), Japan’s strict rules on censorship go back waaaay further than that! Article 175 or the Criminal Code of Japan, covers the censorship of pornography and how it is restricted in Japan through its sales as well as digitally. This means that if you were caught in Japan selling pornographic pictures or digital content, you’d be in jail for up to two years and have to pay a fine of 2,500,000 yen (which we think is about $24,000). This also applied to the one(s) who bought the material as well.
Japan was (and still is) no joke when it came to skin flicks and booty mags. In fact the first ever film to get the wrath of the censorship police after WWII was 1965’s Black Snow (sound familiar?). The film’s director Tetsuji Takechi and Nikkatsu distributor Satoru Murakami were indeed charged with violation of Article 175 for their film depicting prostitutes in a U.S. military base near Tokyo. The film itself was ruled out as “not obscure” in 1966, but several things happened later that threw Nikkatsu and Takechi out of the frying pan and back into the fire.
The first hentai case happened in 2004; when Yuji Suwa, Motonori Kishi, and Koichi Takada were prosecuted for producing and selling off the hentai manga anthology Misshitsu. Nine years later another case involving three people from Core Magazine happened, and those three people pleaded guilty in December of 2013. Needless to say; Japan don’t play!
How does all of this tie-in to Shimoneta? If you’re able to grasp the concept of the story (somewhat), you find various fragments and elements of Japan’s history of censorship as well as its references to its movies such as Black Snow (Blue Snow). Even though this show has its fans, it also has a little history behind its conservative nature when it comes to the lewd, the dirty, and the pornographic.
That”ll do it for our lil’ history lesson for today, and as always; love one another! 😉
Every year (before the pandemic) nerds and geeks from all walks of life would congregate together in sanctuaries of geekdoms known as ‘conventions’. Not matter if you’re an anime, manga, or Marvel/DC fanatic, these places were basically a haven for the collectors of Pokemon Cards, the consumers of anime wall scrolls, and the seekers of rare comics. In these conventions that are so near and dear to nerd culture, we find ourselves spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on fabric, accessories, and all other things needed to create the costumes of the characters that we adore so much from the series of shows that we crave.
A shot of Cosplay at our home convention in Baltimore, MD (January 2020)
It is also at these conventions; that people see a parade of nerds dressed up in multicolored wigs and medieval outfits that look like something straight out of Game of Thrones or K-Pop bands. We all know that every October 31st America dresses up as pop culture icons, bugs, strippers, you name em’. For nerds and conventions; every weekend is October 31st!
One words that has popped up at every interview outside of an anime or comic-con convention is the word “Cosplay”. For those who aren’t very familiar with the word or even its origins, check it out!
Cosplay is basically the combination or portmanteau of the words “Costume” and “Play”. It’s known as an performance art in which participants (often called Cosplayers) wear costumes and accessories of the character that they’re trying to portray. The term was first coined by Nobuyuki Takahashi in 1984 at the World Sci-Fi Convention (Worldcon) in Los Angeles. Originally, the word “Masquerade” was used as the term for Cosplay until Takahashi wrote an article in the Japanese magazine entitled My Anime after the convention.
Even though the term came about in the early-to-mid 80’s, we actually have to give credit to the first cosplayers who kicked off everything that we’re seeing in cosplay now! Forrest J. Ackerman and Myrtle R. Douglas (aka Morojo) are the true pioneers of the cosplay game; kicking it of at Worldcon 1939. (Not to mention the first “rave party” happened at the same convention in 1940; of course they were called Masquerade Balls.)
Since the 1970’s cosplaying has been a fan activity for Japan, and although the term didn’t catch on at first, it wasn’t until a couple years after Takahashi wrote his article that it started trending. The trend really took off in the 90’s after exposure on TV and magazines, and in the late 90’s came what we know today as one of the first cosplay maid cafe’s promoting a video game called Welcome to Pia Carrot! (Many might remember this game.) Hard to believe that all of this started from two sci-fi fans from the 1940’s, and Takahasi who went to Worldcon in the 80’s.
We started from the bottom…now we’re here!
Even though cosplay is more popular now that ever, it did have its ‘scantily clad’ moments. Back in the 70’s there were people who ‘appeared’ naked at sci-fi conventions in America; which prompted the “no costume is no costume” rule because it was happening so frequently each year. Now, we’ve been to a LOT of conventions in the past ten years and we’ve seen our fair share of scantily clad cosplay, but if 90% of your birthday suit is showing, the rule was that you had to return to your hotel room and change into something less revealing. That rule is true especially now with a large handful of conventions being more family-friendly; at the same token there are a handful of cons just for our age group (90’s and early 2000’s kids).
The second generation of the “no costume is no costume” rule is the “Cosplay is NOT consent” rule found at every convention we go to – even our own. With the cosplay trend continuing its popularity well past the 2010’s, it came and presented it’s own share of challenges; this being one of them. In 2013 Rochelle Keyhan, Erin Filson, Anna Kegler brought the issue of sexual harassment to the mainstream; and to this day this movement continues to gain momentum.
Another issue plaguing the cosplay community is the controversial point of cosplay ethnicity; the fact that people of color are seen as ‘not authentic’ or ‘faithful’ to their cosplay by ‘detailed elitists’. Although many cosplayers in the community feel that anyone can cosplay, it becomes difficult when some argue that they’re not being respectful to the character’s ethnicity. Even now this is quite a polarizing topic among the community, but as for where we stand, we love ALL cosplayers – that it!
To cap it all off; cosplay popularity kicked off in the 1940’s with Worldcon, and continued on throughout the 80’s and 90’s all the way to present day. With anime conventions in the U.S. taking the top spot in convention popularity; beating out traditional sci-fi and comic book conventions (though some have combined with anime cons like Zenkaikon for example), cosplay in Western countries among the general public is more accepting than their Eastern counterparts. Guess we’ve got Halloween to thank for that, right? XP
From movies and documentaries cosplay has been a part of nerd culture for 70+ years, and although there haven’t been any conventions due to COVID, we’re 1000% sure we’ll see cosplay and cosplayers again! 😉
We gotta admit; 2020’s been something else. Before we start we just want to give our thoughts and our prayers to the family of Alex Trebek, who passed away from his on-going battle with cancer. He was the host of one of America’s favorite game shows known as Jeopardy for 30 years, and will be truly missed. It’s been quite a week for us at D&A, but we do have some posts/articles heading your way this week!
Space Dandy: An Underrated Spectacle
This series is one of our faves that doesn’t get a whole lot of credit. In fact the story and the tone of Space Dandy is different from any anime out there; no matter what genre it is. This week we dive into what makes this show special, and why it’s a ‘standout’ from all the rest.
Shimoneta: The History of Censorship in Japan
There has been a LOT of controversial/crazy anime titles to ever come out of Japan; but with a country being so conservative about its views and behavior, there’s also its history regarding its battle against anime censorship. We look at the context and the concept of this lil’ show known as Shimoneta; that highlights the very battle between censorship and lewdness in Ecchi/Fanservice anime titles that a faction of fans like. (We say ‘faction’ because not all of us are into these titles.)
Cosplay: The History Behind Why Nerds Love To Dress-Up
America dresses up once a year, nerds dress up every weekend! Evey year at every convention, outsiders unfamiliar to ‘Nerd Culture’ wanna know why 10,000+ 20-something’s and 30-somethings’ (and even 40-somethings’) dress up in cosplay that they may (and may not) be familiar with. We take a dive into the history of cosplay, and why it’s so popular among Millennials and Gen-Z.
That’s what we’ve got going on this week! As always continue to stay safe and love one another. 🙂
Hey guys n’ gals! We’re hoping that you’re all doing well and staying safe, as things for us have been a little bit hectic this week. Last weekend we were hoping that we would get the chance to drop our final promo for D&A Studios, but we’ve had several technical issues regarding post-production; so the promo will be delayed sadly. We of course will continue to do our best in bringing you some awesome content, although its taking a bit longer than it should due to our 9-to-5 schedule conflicts. (We are working out a constant weekend schedule however.) Aside from us battling tech issues we do have some updates to share.
UPDATE 1: Cross-Promotional DJ Sets with D&A Studios / Avidd Minddset
This is a new thing that we’re experimenting with since D&A’s founding member; Donte’ J. Lewis, is also a DJ/Producer under the name ‘Avidd Minddset’. We haven’t pinpointed an official date yet but we are working on doing some exclusive mini DJ sets through Instagram Live. You’ll also be able to hear new music from Avidd Minddset as well, so we’ll keep you updated when we make the decision to launch this new project.
UPDATE 2: Upcoming “Sonic Battle PSG” Fanfiction Has Been Canned
Although this one’s kinda sad, D&A’s Donte’ J. Lewis has decided to remain in fanfiction retirement. The story didn’t really come out the way that he wanted it to, and he wasn’t sure what the ‘interest’ level would be should he post it. For now he does have his earlier works from 2013-2014, so if fans are interested you can check out “Sonic plus Panty & Stocking” or “Brief & Soulfire”.
UPDATE 3: New Podcast Names
If we haven’t mentioned it before, we are working on getting some equipment for our podcast. Right now we’ve narrowed our choices down to three names; Nerdz of the Decade, The Anime Famous Podcast, and Generation Geek. We’ll put out a final poll on which of the three names we should go with on social media; and keep you informed on when we’ll drop the first official episode.
2020 has been a trying year for each and every one of us, so if you feel the way we feel, just hang in there and know we’re right here for you! That’s all we’ve got for now in terms of updates, and should any more come in; we’ll let you know right off the bat! 🙂
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