Isekai is one of the most saturated genres in anime history, and like we’ve spoken in our initial rant about it, there’s always some ‘new’ title that drops EVERY DAMN SEASON! From the people who brought you ‘The Time I Got Sucked in to Another World with my iPhone 12’, comes ‘That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Refrigerator’! Japan loves coming up with things and objects that people can be brought into another world to be reincarnated as, but despite how stupidly long these titles are; and how generic most of the protagonists can be, there are exceptions. One of those exceptions comes in the form of a parody of all of the common tropes found in isekai anime titles; including how useless party members can be. One of the biggest useless party members happens to be a goddess (if you’d even call her that) of water, and also has the personality of a fish out of water. Guys n’ gals, meet Aqua, a useless goddess.

Konosuba is one of those shows that takes the ‘norms’ that you’d find in every isekai trope, and throws it out the window. You’d think upon first glance it would be about a generic MC getting transported to another world after death, and waking up in a forest to search for the king and become a knight and fight off dragons in order to save the kingdom, right? NO! Konosuba takes all of that and tells it to go kick rocks; because Kazuma (the ‘generic’ MC) doesn’t give a damn about fighting the demon king, he just wants to party and live it up in the new world he’s in. (And even drags Aqua along for the ride.)

Aqua is basically the first person Kazuma meets and already hates her guts…and the fact that she made her panties invisible so people wouldn’t see them. (Yeah, but now they can SEE YOUR BARE ASS!) Well, as air-headed and useless as she is within Kazuma’s party, Aqua brings a sense of comic relief and joy.

Part 1: The Origin of the Useless Goddess

So, was Aqua useless from the start? Well she’s worshiped in the Axis Order in the Fantasy World, and is basically in charge of trying to get Japanese people who’ve died to be reincarnated into the Fantasy World. However Eris was the one taking one most of her responsibilities, because Aqua would rather read manga and be lazy. (No surprise there.) Kazuma wasn’t like other Japanese people; instead when he was reincarnated, he took Aqua with him as a cheat item (which she hated) and the two of them started getting odd part-time jobs in order to make a living in the Fantasy World. Eventually Aqua started getting noticed throughout the town for her abilities and also her troublemaking; which places Kazuma as the one who ends up as her “babysitter”. When it comes to responsibilities…yeah, Aqua’s pretty useless.

Part 2: How Useless Is Your Goddess?

Aqua is an unaccountable airhead with a ‘kid-in-a-candy-store’ personality, who can be really annoying at some of the worst times. Though she won’t pass judgement on push her beliefs on people, she speaks out of term and has landed herself and the rest of Kazuma’s party in hot water. As a goddess Aqua has validation issues; as she constantly seeks praises for her good deeds – only to ruin her merits moments later. Aqua is also a terrible lair, and has no concept of what a ‘lie’ is and how to tell one due in part to her honesty. Because of this its easy to trick her into doing things or even getting her to agree with you on certain topics, and while she thinks highly of herself, Aqua isn’t the brightest when it comes to business sense.

On the flipside; Aqua can be smart when she wants to be, and has been known to be a walking encyclopedia for Kazuma and the rest of the team. Although she’s a goddess, Aqua forgets just how powerful her priestess abilities actually are; and has performed feats that others would deem extraordinary. She’s not fond of toads or demons and surely hates the undead, but she’ll get along with them if she gets to know them long enough. (Not the toads though.) As far as her skills are concerned, they may seem impressive on paper, but in actual battle…they’re useless against normal people and toads. Aside from her Priestess Magic, Aqua has powerful skills like “God Blow” and “God Requiem”, but she can also bring people back from the dead, purify unclean water, cause biblical floods, lift curses from those possessed by demons, a master craftswoman, can do water bending (just a little bit, don’t get excited Last Airbender fans), has holy magic, and is also great at party tricks. I know it looks like I made Aqua not sound as useless as she seems, but in the anime only half of this stuff is seen.

Part 3: The Legacy of the Useless Goddess

Many supporting characters in isekai anime titles are equal in strength and intelligence to a certain degree, as for Aqua, you’re kinda rolling the dice and hoping for the best. She’s totally useless when it comes to certain responsibilities, but she also knows how to entertain a crowd with her party tricks. Perhaps she’s not totally useless at everything, she’s just more skilled in other areas as opposed to the ones most people would assume she’s good at; but they’d be wrong. While she’d be okay for quests where there’s demons and undead involved, Aqua would still need to be babysat when it comes to keeping herself from getting in trouble around town. Also, she needs to PUT SOME DAMN DRAWS ON! Nobody wants to see that booty every single day (not unless you’re a freak); ask Kazuma when he’s groaning and rolling his eyes. At the end of the day, Aqua’s gonna be Aqua, and there’s nothing you can do about that.

That will do it for this One-2-One. Until next post, stay nerdy! 😉

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! 😉

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)