Hey there nerds n’ nerdettes! For most of you its the First Day of School, and for the rest of us its time to clock in and head into work on yet another crazy Monday. We of course are here to bring you another Monday recap of what you may have missed in the last couple of weeks! Starting September 5th we’ll be rolling out our D&A Entertainment Weekly Newsletter; that will also include our weekly recaps of unboxings, and podcast episodes that premiered on our Youtube channel last week. That’s all we’ve got for this post, so until our next one, stay nerdy! 😉
Month: August 2022
A Founder’s Thoughts with D.J. Lewis: “The Brotherhood Treatment”!
Since becoming an anime fan back in the late 90’s (early 2000’s), I’ve gone through somewhat of a cycle; it usually starts from curiosity, and ends with ‘please let there be a season 2 of this show’. Over the last decade-and-a-half or so, I’ve heard this term for anime titles that don’t fully commit to its source material that its trying to adapt from; or even completely go in a whole different direction. Anybody that’s an FMA fan already knows what this term means, and if they’re an FMAB fan, then they already know a handful of anime titles (both old and new) that could use this sort of treatment in terms of plot, and character development. This treatment is known as “The Brotherhood Treatment”.
Anybody that’s seen Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood knows that this title is…a perfect anime. I say this because it is a perfect anime to start with if you’re looking to get into the anime fandom. If you’re gonna watch this series, then go for the 2009 version that is ‘Brotherhood’. The 2003 original was good…until it ‘Game of Thrones Season 6’d’ us near the end and STOPPED FOLLOWING THE DAMN LORE!! So yeah, watch 09′ if you’re gonna watch Fullmetal. Just putting it out there.
Now this series gave birth to the term ‘The Brotherhood Treatment’ around the 2010’s when the manga and anime ended, to signify how anime should be adapted 100% faithfully to its manga. If you ask any anime fan on the street if there should be an anime title out there that could use this treatment, 9 times out of 10 they’re probably going to say Rosario + Vampire – and I agree with them! I saw both seasons of the show, looked at the manga and thought that exact same thing the majority of fans were thinking:
It’s NOTHING like the manga! T.T
No, it isn’t. As much as I like goofy, ecchi stuff from time to time, I actually think that if the artists were given enough time (and the production budget was bigger), that they could’ve made the series true to its manga counterpart. Instead it became an ecchi/harem title from the 2000’s that half of the fandom loved, and the other half hated. The ‘Brotherhood Treatment’ wasn’t just about an anime adaptation being faithful to its manga source material, but not falling into the common traps that you see in modern anime today. FMA Brotherhood didn’t have ‘background’ or ‘one-note’ characters that only appeared for a short time and then never seen again. It also didn’t have any characters that ‘had’ to fit any kind of trope or plot device; and found a way to be more than just another Shonen through themes like Militarism, Religion, Faith vs. Fact, Race, and Science. Its no wonder fans call this one of the greatest anime of all time.
(I am NOT gonna talk about the “Dog” scene, okay? Do. Not. Ask!)
So for me, the ‘Brotherhood Treatment’ is ideal for titles that the original fandom felt like its original version lacked in certain critical areas; which is usually story and character development. Any title that is going to take a world-building approach to their story if it calls for it, should try looking into how FMA Brotherhood approached it – actually…how Hiromu Arakawa approached it. The icing on the cake for this series, and why it is a perfect anime to start with on your anime journey, is the fact that it’s done!
Yeah, its done. It will not be added upon; as all loose ends have been tied up, and all characters’ missions and purposes have been fulfilled. It’s one of those anime titles where you actually leave 100% satisfied; no questions asked. What anime title out there can do that in this day and age? Not a single one! One Piece is great (do not get mad at me for this), but I do NOT have the time to sit through 1000+ episodes that will take me two or three years to get through; when I can knock FMA Brotherhood out in one week at 64 episodes. You can get through a modern anime season or series in just six hours because most of them don’t go past 11 or 12 episodes. (MHA took the seasonal route and manages to keep the quality fresh every season, so when I say you can get through a series in six hours, I mean the ‘B-E tier’ ones.)
Okay, so that will do it for me and my thoughts, but what do you guys think? Are there any titles out there that could use the ‘Brotherhood Treatment’? Let us know in the comments below!
Until next post, stay nerdy! 😉
D&A Studios Entertainment Recap (8.22.22)
So we’ve reached the final week before kids go back to school, as the unofficial end of the Summer looms near. We of course are bringing you another recap of videos that you might have missed last week, and boy did we have fun doing these. Also don’t forget that starting September 5th we’ll be starting a new weekly newsletter called “D&A Entertainment Weekly”; which will include our Youtube video recaps, and posts for the week along with what’s happening around the anime industry. Yep, that’s pretty much it. Until next time and next post, stay nerdy my friends! 😉
One-2-One with D.J. Lewis: Junko Enoshima!
In the time I’ve spent watching anime, I’ve come across the various types of villains that you would see in specific types of anime within the medium; your action-fantasies, your isekais, your rom-coms, your mechas, and your psychological thrillers. In the spectrum of villainhood there are three types that can range from intellectually challenged, to god-tier terrifying. The first of which is your Simple Villains; your Saturday Morning Cartoon troupe kind of villains (Ginyu Force and King Dedede types). The second is your God Complex Villains; where mortal rules don’t apply and they can pass judgement on whomever they want (Goku Black and Light types). The third and perhaps most dangerous one of them all, is your Sympathetic Villains. How are they the worst? We can see a part of our selves in their actions, ideologies, and personalities.
One sympathetic villain in particular caused the whole world to fall into world-ending despair. Many are still in disbelief that this ‘Early 2000’s High School Cheerleader Valley Girl’ type of girl with a ‘Harley Quinn’ complex, is the reason the world went bat-crap crazy. Its also the reason why Danganronpa fans simp over her. She’s the Queen of Despair, Junko Enoshima.
Some time in 2018 I stumbled upon this series through Youtube, which is where I spend most of my time watching anime these days. I watched all of Danganronpa: The Animation and came to the conclusion of…why I don’t like Junko Enoshima that much. Its like you wanna punch her in the face the moment she opens her mouth; which is what my initial first impression of her was after watching the show. As the years went by this toe fungus of a woman started growing on me, which might explain why I’m even doing a One-2-One on her to begin with. The creator even stated that Junko doesn’t even have a reason to do what she does; she had no trauma-filled childhood, no abusive parents, and no negative experiences to shape who she became around her. She’s just bad because she is – and there’s not much else to it! Yeah, I know! (It’s even more crazy because of the fact that she was born on Christmas Eve.)
Junko Enoshima represents the worst of humanity, while Makoto Naegi represents the best of humanity. Its a Ying-Yang situation as the two of them clashed at the end of the series; with Junko losing, but not before committing suicide instead of surrendering to hope. I know many don’t like to think of this as a deep series, but with the psychological themes of hope and despair behind it, it’s hard not to.
Part 1: Who is The Ultimate Despair?
Okay, so I know that there are certain differences between Game Junko and Anime Junko, but for this One-2-One I’ll be focusing more on Anime Junko (but add a few elements from Game Junko). So Junko’s childhood (along with her sister) was abject to say the least, and was even homeless at one point. Her taste for despair may have started in elementary school with her friend Yasuke Matsuda; where she built a sandcastle as people watched her work, played in the school playground for a bit, then came back to find out that the sandcastle was destroyed. Upon hearing her cries Yasuke looked around for the person responsible and found no one, then while he was sitting on the bench Junko ran up to him and told him that she was the one who did it by accident (though we know that ain’t true).
As the years went by Junko was planning on something big; something that would change the whole world, and NOT for the better. She got a modeling career and was featured in all of the latest magazines and became an idol due to her extravagant tastes. Eventually she got accepted into Hope’s Peak Academy as a part of the 78th Class, and the rest was history.
Part 2: Junko Enoshima: The Ultimate Despair!
Junko Enoshima during her first appearance is pretty much like Aqua; only with a successful modeling career and NOT a useless goddess. However…her true personality is far more cryptic and unpleasant. She’s apathetic and easily bored to an unhealthy degree, and somehow got Multiple Personality Disorder in the process. Junko’s not one to keep just one ‘appearance’ for long; which makes her mentally and emotionally unpredictable, and anxiety-inducing when having a conversation with her. She values despair above anything else and wishes to ‘paint the whole world’ in it, as she believes its the great unknown, and unpredictable. As mentioned before; she has no reason to do the things she does, but she does them because that’s who she is.
Although she doesn’t look it, Junko is rather highly intelligent. (Yeah, we can’t believe it either.) She’s also cunning, violent, manipulative, impulsive, toxic as hell, and cruel. She’s also mentally and emotionally abusive to her sister and anyone associated with her. Junko even manipulates people into committing crimes and then turns around and blames them for even doing it in the first place – even though SHE’S THE REASON WHY THEY DID IT IN THE FIRST PLACE! (Yeah, I really didn’t like her when I first saw her.) Basically when it comes to despair; even if she loses, she wins. Her skills on the other hand are exactly what I aforementioned before; her analytical talent in predicting the latest fashion trends, mathematical problems, subliminal messaging, and more. Because she’s able to predict what a person will do before they do it, it lead to her boredom and why she chose despair because of its unpredictability. Also due to the fact that she’s the Ultimate Despair, she uses her talent to exploit their weaknesses and manipulate them to do whatever she commands.
I’m also gonna point out she has no physical fighting capabilities whatsoever, but if she had Goku Black’s fighting prowess she would’ve been even MORE dangerous than she is now. (*laughs*)
Part 3: The Legacy of Despair!
Junko Enoshima is the embodiment and amalgamation of despair, and what it can do to people’s lives and how they feel. She’s everything you may despise about others and even yourself, and the corruption and sorrow that takes place in our world (even today); all wrapped up in the form of a ditzy high school cheerleader-looking anime antichrist. She may not have Goku Black’s power level or ‘god ki’, or even share the same philosophy that Light has (but then again, it might be on a more ‘complex’ level only she understands), but as a sympathetic villain she has the power to turn people against one another and bring out their absolute worst. Junko has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and doesn’t believe she is even at fault for how The Tragedy turned out – because it went just the way she wanted it to go.
While I may have a love/hate relationship with this character, I kinda feel bad for her. She could’ve been anything, but she was made to be the embodiment of despair. It’s all she knows and its her destiny. Junko will probably never be anything more than what she is because that’s all she is; a person who manipulates people to do her bidding, causing people to fall in love with despair (and her), and falling deeper and deeper into the abyss of despair with no hope of returning. She’s a character that you both want to feel sorry for, but glad she ‘punished’ herself in the name of despair.
May you rot in hell you disgustingly loveable THOT! (I really don’t like this girl very much, do I? XP)
The Race For One Piece is On! But Where Do the Contender’s Stand?
A Look At Where Everyone Stands in the Race for the One Piece
The state of One Piece right now could best be summed up by a quote from Dr. Strange: “We’re in the endgame, now.” After 25 years of twists, turns, laughs, and tears, Eichiro Oda’s preparing to take his legendary masterpiece into its final phase. The moment the Wano Arc ends, fans should expect nothing less than a race to the finish line that is Laugh Tale. The grand prize: not just the One Piece, but the truth about the Void Century and the history of the world. It’s going to be a very tight race, though, with the most powerful pirates competing to make it to Laugh Tale first.
While the Straw Hat Pirates come out of Wano as the crew of one of the Yonko, they’re facing stiff competition from their fellow pirates. With the manga on break this week, now’s the perfect time to look at where the top contenders each stand in terms of strength, power, and how close they are to reaching Laugh Tale.
Buggy and his New Alliance Are a Major Wild Card
One of the first enemies that Luffy ever fought, Buggy seemed destined to become comic relief as the rubber wonder moved on to bigger enemies. Then came the events at Impel Down and Marineford, which outed him as a former member of the Roger Pirates, gave him instant notoriety, and earned him the title of one of the Seven Warlords. The loss of that title, though, didn’t diminish his power. Somehow, the Clown got elevated to the status of Yonko alongside Luffy and former crewmate Shanks!
Despite the world thinking he’s a mad genius, fans know that Buggy’s a joke. However, he’s a joke that’s managed to talk former Warlords “Hawkeye” Mihawk and Crocodile into working with him as part of his new group, Cross Guild. Even more brazen, though, is that his group put bounties on the Marines. That takes guts!
With the amount of power and influence that Buggy has gathered, albeit unintentionally, he could stand a serious shot at finding the One Piece. He’s also got the motivation: due to getting sick at the penultimate island, Buggy never got to see Laugh Tale. Now, he could change that, either on his own, or by forming an alliance with another Yonko.
Shanks is Throwing His Lot into the Ring.
What can be said about Shanks that hasn’t been said already? He’s a former member of the Roger Pirates, the man who inspired Luffy to become a pirate, and one of the four Yonko. After his recent display of Conquerer’s Haki in Wano, though, Shanks has elevated himself to Giga-CHAD levels of awesomeness! And this is while he only has one arm.
Until now, Shanks has shown no interest in reaching Laugh Tale or finding his former captain’s treasure. However, with Luffy now standing alongside him as a fellow Yonko, that attitude’s gone right out the window. Having thrown his proverbial hat into the ring, Shanks is setting himself up for a confrontation with Luffy. Given how his mastery of Conquerer’s Haki ranks among the strongest in the world, Luffy’s idol might also be one of his biggest obstacles to finding One Piece. Or, he might end up being a powerful ally.
Trafalgar Law Knows Almost as Much as the Straw Hats Do.
The Straw Hats have been allied with Trafalgar Law for what’s likely been a few months in-universe. From the fan’s perspective, though, it’s been about a decade of having Law hanging out with Luffy. While the Straw Hat’s antics may annoy him at times, this alliance has been nothing but good for the captain of the Heart Pirates. Not only did he get revenge on Doflamingo, but he managed to learn almost everything the Straw Hats did about Laugh Tale and the Road Poneglyphs.
While he may not be a Yonko, that doesn’t change the fact that Law took down Big Mom alongside Kid. That along makes him one of the toughest pirates alive. Add in the fact that he has access to at least two of the Road Poneglyph’s (three, if Luffy shared the one from Big Mom with him), and he’s got a good chance of making it to Laugh Tale.
Kid Seems to Have His Own Lead on Finding One Piece
The last few arcs have been absolute hell for Captain Kid. His first alliance to take down Shanks ended when he got betrayed and captured by Kaido. To add insult to injury, his first mate, Killer, got force-fed a SMILE fruit, rendering him permanently smiling. No wonder he promised not to trust anyone outside of his crew again. However, that didn’t stop him from joining the Alliance that raided Onigashima, and that saw him and Law take down Big Mom.
Law and Kid now stand on equal footing regarding power and prestige, and thanks to the former, Kid now has a copy of Wano’s Road Poneglyph. While this alone won’t be enough to get him to Laugh Tale, he already seems to have another lead in the form of someone with “flame marks.” How this will factor into the race to Laugh Tale remains anyone’s guess, though.
Blackbeard Is Luffy’s Greatest Threat
Of all the rival’s that Luffy has to face to reach One Piece, his greatest will likely be none other than Marshall D. Teach, AKA Blackbeard. It’s likely Eichiro Oda always meant for Blackbeard to be Luffy’s last and greatest obstacle to becoming King of the Pirates. After all, Blackbeard is, in essence, a natural foil to Luffy.
Let’s recap. Both Luffy and Blackbeard started forming their crews around the same time. Both kept said crew’s small in number, but filled with highly capable individuals. Furthermore, each has gone on to have a massive impact on the world in different ways. Lastly, both are now Yonko with a fleet of thousands of pirates ready to fight for them. The big difference between them is that unlike Luffy, Blackbeard seemingly wants to be the Pirate King for the power it will give him.
Given how Blackbeard’s directly responsible for the events that led to Ace’s death, it’s safe to say that Luffy hates his guts. Given all of this, a showdown between the two is coming. And when the dust settles, only one of them will be walking away.
Luffy is Closer Than Ever to Finding One Piece
The boy who will be a king, the second coming of Joy Boy, and the newest Yonko, Monkey D. Luffy. We’ve followed Luffy from the beginning, seen him go from a rookie upstart to a rubber-hosed demigod of freedom. The Wano Arc marked a turning point in Luffy’s growth as a fighter, going from not being able to lay a scratch on Kaido to besting the strongest beast in the world. He’s more than earned the right to be called a Yonko by now.
We all know that Luffy’s the one who will be King of the Pirates, but just how close is he? Crew filled with people who can go toe-to-toe with the best the World Government can throw at them? Check. Awakened Devil Fruit powers? Check. Three of the four Road Poneglyphs meant to reveal the way to Laugh Tale? Check. It’s plain for everyone to see that Luffy’s the closest to finding the One Piece right now. Should he make it past the might of his fellow Yonko, then his dream of being Pirate King will be within his grasp.
One-2-One with D.J. Lewis: Goku Black!
I have been a Dragon Ball fan since Toonami made its debut in 1997, and like every fan since then, I’ve always rooted for Goku during every battle he had. From the time he went toe-to-toe with Vegeta during the height of the Saiyan Saga, to throwin’ hands with Beerus in Battle of Gods. Goku has been unstoppable throughout the whole franchise; except for that one time he got killed by Piccolo during the Raditz fight, exploded along with Cell during the end of the Cell Games, and ‘died’ in one Hit – get it? XP
Throughout the series the Earth-bound saiyan has had his share of world/universal threats, and regardless of who the worst of the worst villains is (…Frieza), there have been some that seem to resemble the main saiyan. In The Tree of Might we had Turles; the forgotten saiyan warrior who grew 10x stronger every time he ate from that tree. Now in the age of Dragon Ball Super, there is another Goku-like threat in the form of both a god…and a saiyan. He’s everything Goku would’ve been had he not hit his head as a child, but carries with him the old persona of Vegeta during his Saiyan Saga days. He’s…Goku Black.
My first thought upon seeing this character was ‘haven’t we done this already?’, but there was something different about this ‘evil Goku’. First, his appearance was much slender than Goku’s actual appearance, because Goku’s a lot more buff around the shoulders and chest. Second, he wore a Potara earring on his left ear; which is the same ear Goku wore his during the Buu arc. Third, he can travel through time like the son of the saiyan prince; which he’s been hunting down for quite awhile. Fourth…he has a Super Saiyan form called Rose’ (which might be opposite to Goku and Vegeta’s Super Saiyan Blue). Nevertheless fans were quite fond of this new character even though he’s just the body-swap incarnation of the actual villain, Zamasu.
Part 1 – The Origin of Beauty: Enter, Goku Black!
So when and how did Goku get his body stolen? Well it might have something to do with the Super Dragon Balls, a wish, and unaltered timelines. (Yeah, I don’t like them either so lets just get on with it.) Zamasu went to Universe 6 from the unaltered timeline and gathered the seven Super Dragon Balls (actually you can’t “gather” them, they’re planet sized and just happened to be there when he arrived), then summoned Super Shenron and asked to have his body switched with Goku’s (of that timeline), and thus became Goku Black. That’s the story right? Nope.
Goku Black and Zamasu are actually the same entity from the same timeline. Thanks to Trunks not understanding how jumping through timelines HAVE CONSEQUENCES, Goku Black was inevitably born. Zamasu was a Supreme Kai-in-Training under the eye of Gowasu, but because of their passive nature towards mortals and his growing hatred of them due to their sinful desires, Zamasu rejected Gowasu’s teachings and became a rouge Kai. You pretty much know what happens next; he kills (Future) Gowasu, swaps bodies with Goku, became Goku Black, chased down Future Trunks, destroyed West City of his timeline, revealed to Universe 7 Present Goku that he killed his wife and son, got his ass handed and lectured to by Blue Vegeta, fused with Future Zamasu, defeated by SS2 Trunks, and had his timeline erased by Zeno. This FIEND actually went around pretending to be Goku while destroying universes from Trunks’ timeline and making Super Dragon wishes, before finally having his plan; the “Zero Mortals Now with all of that out of the way, let’s get on to his skills and personality.
Part 2: The Essence of Beauty and the Hatred of Mortals!
Before Goku Black was Goku Black, he was Zamasu. Zamasu was a patient student under his master’s teachings, but harbored a hatred for mortals and their wicked ways with the gods (kais) not doing anything about it. Taking the phrase ‘if you want something bad enough, you gotta do it yourself!’ to heart, Zamasu killed his master and went rouge before gathering the Super Dragon Balls and becoming Goku Black. As Goku Black he was an unsympathetic, cruel, sadistic, homicidal, and unhinged bastard! He loves toying with his enemies before brutally killing them; doing is best Seth Rollins maniacal laughter impression while doing so. Even though he’s the extreme opposite of Goku, there are a couple of things that he shares with him; the will to get stronger by doing it naturally (or take a page out of Ginyu’s playbook and injure yourself and get a zenkai boost), he’s goal oriented, and likes to test his power before going all out in battle.
His skill set is pretty much all of Goku’s moves and abilities; except for the Energy Scythe and Energy Blade (Sickle of Sorrow and God Split Cut) – which the latter was actually Vegito’s move. You want a Kamehameha? Black’s got it. You want a new Super Saiyan form? Black’s got it. Basically he’s got the skills of Goku along with the skills of a Kai (or Supreme Kai); Kaio-Ken, Black Kamehameha, Super Black Kamehameha, SS Rose’, Black Spirit Bomb, God Split Cut, Sickle of Sorrow, Mass Replication, and so many other attacks and techniques that I don’t feel like naming because its way too many to name! He can also Potara-fusion with Zamasu to become Fused Zamasu, but we all know what happens when a Saiyan fuses with a Kai…
Part 3: The Legacy of Goku (Black)!
Goku Black is the direct opposite of Goku as Zamasu, but he’s also Goku from Trunks’ unaltered timeline though its Zamasu parading around like he’s Son Goku. At first I never understood why so many people liked this character, but I guess Toriyama-san thought it would be a cool idea to have a mirrored evil version of Goku who had all of his abilities along with the power of a god. Goku Black is basically what Goku would (and could) be had he not hit his head when he was a baby, so perhaps Goku Black’s appearance and overall persona is just a glimpse of what that would look like; a ‘what if Goku never hit his head and stayed evil’ scenario.
I know its been said that by the end of the arc the quality of the writing went downhill. The Dragon Ball fandom will drag the ending of Goku Black’s arc through the mid for years to come. Yes, the final battle between Future Trunks and Fused Zamasu should’ve been it and ended it there, but then Zamasu pulled a last-minute “gotcha”; causing Zeno to come in and finish the job by erasing the timeline. You defeated a god and STILL had to call for help to finish the job! What kind of ending is this?!
On the bright side though, Goku Black is pretty boss in Dragon Ball FighterZ. So, this is gonna wrap up my One-2-One on him. Until next post, stay nerdy my friends! 😉
D&A Studios Entertainment Recap (8.15.22)
What’s good, anime fam? Its another start to another week as September gets closer, and the Summer is winding down. It may be just another ‘terrific’ Monday for some, but for us it means another recap of videos that we’ve done this past weekend. Also a side note; starting September 5th, 2022 we’ll be implementing a newsletter-style format with a new name entitled “D&A Entertainment Weekly“. It will contain recap videos from our Youtube channel, new posts and articles for the week, and bi-weekly Premium videos for our VIP fans. We’re also working on a new monthly subscription tier system for our biggest supporters; $3 (Occasional Visitor), $5 (Frequent Flyer), $7 (VIP Member), $10 (D&A Super Fan). (More on that in the coming weeks.)
That’s all we’ve got for now, so until next post, stay nerdy! 😉
D&A’s Checkpoint Check-In! (August 2022)
Hey guys! This is our second ‘check-in’ post of 2022. Posts like these are pretty much our way of letting you know what we’ll be doing next, but also letting you know where our heads are at in these modern day times. Recently, we’ve hit a few speed bumps in how we plan on implementing special features on our site, as well as overall promotion of our blog (and Youtube channel) to expand our reach to various circles within the anime community. However, our stubborn nature comes in clutch when we need it most, so we hope to be able to activate our Premium/VIP videos so that our biggest fans can check them out. Now that we’ve gotten that out the way, here’s some upcoming announcements:
Two New One-2-One Posts Drop Next Week: Junko Enoshima (Danganronpa), and Goku Black (DBS)
Anime villains are completely different compared to their Western counterparts (if you’d even call it that). Many of them became that way based on their rough childhood, while others wanted to try and overthrow their own government. Some are chaotic evil while others are chaotic neutral, and some do evil because…of boredom? You’re tellin’ me the whole reason the world went to hell, is because one chick was bored out of her mind?! That’s right, we’re doing a One-2-One on the embodiment of despair herself; Junko Enoshima. Next week!
Now, there have been so many Goku clones in this franchise that its not even funny! However unlike Turles (who is the ‘Original Goku Black’ to a small…select few in the Dragon Ball fandom), Goku Black IS Goku; just body swapped by an evil Kai known as Zamasu after a wish from Super Shenron. Although the ending to the arc was…terrible, Goku Black made for an interesting villain due to his philosophy about humans being absolute scum; that gods are better and more pure than man will ever be. (Future Trunks was having none of that!) Anyway, he’s next week on One-2-One.
Video Uploads Will Continue to Remain on Wednesdays (For The Moment)
Our Youtube schedule has been a little crazy as of late. Due to a shift in ‘certain’ priorities and aspects of our lives, video upload days could change depending on the weight and severity of said priorities and aspects. We’re not at the level (financially) where we can quit our 9-to-5’s and do this full time, cuz’ well…we gotta eat. If there’s a change in our upload schedule we’ll make an announcement on our social media pages.
So far that’s all we’ve got for this check-in post, but as always, we can’t thank our fans for the amount of support you’ve given us. Until next post, stay nerdy! 😉
Nerdz of the Decade Recap (8.8.22)
Hiya! We’re back with another Nerdz of the Decade recap to fill you in on some episodes that you might’ve missed at some point in the last week, or so. Although we can’t name names just yet, we are in the process of booking our third guest for the podcast, and yes – its someone you know. Down below is the last three episodes of Nerdz that you might’ve missed; as our 33rd episode will center around our new guest. That’s it for this update, and as always stay safe, and stay nerdy! 😉
A Founder’s Thoughts with D.J. Lewis: The Value of a (Content) Creator
The word “artist” and “creator” can mean a number of things to a number of people, but to the majority of the general public, artists are creators who express themselves through their art. People who express themselves through the art of online video, are Content Creators. The cool thing about people who are content creators, is the fact that they’re art is on a greater spectrum than just one type of form. It can be comedy sketches, dance trends, movie reviews, ‘let’s plays’, anime analysis videos, and so much more. Eventually, if these people continue improving and enhancing their content to present to the audience that they’re targeting; growing it in the process, then these content creators become what many call ‘internet celebrities’, or ‘Youtubers’. Say what you want Hollywood, but Youtubers are the new ‘A-listers’ now! XP
Gone are the days of people thinking that you can’t make a career out of riding a shopping cart off the roof of your parents house, and landing in a pile of horse crap and it going viral on Instagram. These days you can become a viral sensation and gain celebrity status just by getting your dog to sing the “Star Spangled Banner”, and many people have taken advantage of Youtube’s features, and what it can do for them. Video editing software has become so commercialized these days, that now 8-year-old Timmy can just grab his dad’s iPhone 12, shoot a video of him and his 12-year-old brother reenacting a scene from some dumb movie only Gen-Zer’s understand, and that video gets 5 million views on Youtube. 16 years ago Youtube was a fun place where people could share videos about the crazy things they were into. I miss the days where Youtube was all about cat videos, lip synching the Mortal Kombat theme song, and Naruto AMVs – don’t get me started on Naruto AMVs.
Sometimes I ask myself why, why did I decide to create this anime blog alongside my friend of 20 years? In 2015 we had an idea, or at least a thought, about what it would be like to have an anime blog and write about the stuff you liked; anime! Well, my creative brain decided to create a WordPress account, find the best theme to make it appear that we were a business, and go nuts! One year afterwards we made a Youtube channel that would eventually become a hub where we would have a podcast series called “Nerdz of the Decade”, and do video unboxings of anime figures. It was then that we gained the role of ‘Content Creators’ because we now had content, to create.
Nowadays since anybody can do it, there has been a massive influx of creators who make their way to Youtube, to create content on the things that they like. With anime being as mainstream as it is; thousands of creators have produced videos talking about the industry, reviewing shows, ranting about how good or bad certain shows are, doing figure unboxings, and ultimately…fanning out about the thing that gives them joy. There are some days I wonder if we’re even reaching our target audience with our videos, or even if people think that our videos are good. There have even been moments where I felt discouraged about our chances of our ‘content footprint’ on Youtube, being noticeable to bigger channels or even sponsors that we look up to.
Numbers, subscribers, and channel views weren’t of top-tier importance 16 years ago when Youtube was fun, now after Google bought it, it feels like its a popularity contest where creators are all fighting for Youtube’s attention; to promote their channel. I could even go so far as to say that Youtube isn’t about the creators, but how much content can be put on this platform so people already on it will stay on it longer. So what does this say about the value of a creator, and what does this say about us as D&A?
Maybe, I may be thinking long term. Maybe, I need to stop worrying about other people’s success and focus on our mission to being one of the best blogs out there. There are people who have been rooting for us since day one, and despite the many speed bumps we’ve gone through in the last 6 going on 7 years of our existence, we got people who have our back. Every creator is different in how their content is presented to their audience, but for us we decided to take a unique approach on how we cover topics both educational and controversial without bias. (Not so much on ‘best girl’ though! XP)
You never know who’s watching your videos, so continue to create the content you love for the people who love it. While we might not reach Jake or Logan Paul levels of fame, we small-time content creators have a voice in the creative community, and value the quality of our content than its quantity. I guess what I’m trying to say before I end this post is; you can’t move forward if you spend so much time looking back. Don’t worry about what others are doing, focus on you. We have fun doing what we love despite our boring and stressful 9-to-5 jobs. We love our fans and supporters and fellow anibloggers, and no matter what the future looks like for us, we’ll continue to be D&A no matter what!
We are D&A Anime Blog, and that’s what we do!
Until next post.
D&A Anime Blog 