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! ๐
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.
One-2-One with D.J. Lewis: Panty Anarchy
After hearing the news from this year’s Anime Expo, I like many others who are a part from the PSG fanbase, was floored. I don’t know why it took them this long to do this; though there hasn’t been much new information since the announcement, but at long last Panty & Stocking is getting a second season. While its been 12 years since the first season came out, a LOT has changed in the atmosphere – mainly among the ranks of social justice and political correctness. In the beginning of the year I made an article about PSG, and wondered if the show would still hold up in 2022, and depending on who you ask, many would say we’d need it now more than ever. One character in particular doesn’t give a f@#k about political correctness, and thumbs her nose at the law on a regular basis. She also apparently gets more screen time than her fan-favorite sister, and takes the ‘brawn-over-brain’ approach when it comes to hunting ghosts. She’s Panty f@#$%&g Anarchy!
Siblings in anime have always been interesting to me; from your caring ones like Mirajane and Lisanna (from Fairy Tail), to your estranged ones like Sasuke and Itachi (Naruto). Panty and her sister Stocking kinda have a ‘Cain and Abel’ relationship in certain situations, but at the same time they also kick ass together when needed. Also much like gothic best girl, Panty is able to transform her namesake into her primary weapon of choice; the pistol. Her goal while in Daten City is to pretty much screw 1,000 men before going back to Heaven, and I’m not even going into the repercussions one will receive if they decide to go this route. Besides being the popular one among large crowds of people, and being an ass to her sister, Panty has a rebellious streak towards authority – particularly the Demon Sisters. She’s not afraid to speak her mind or gives a damn about political correctness, so basically Panty is the Revy of the series. (There is GOING to be a character comparison post on Panty and Revy, I am NOT sorry!)
Part 1 – So, who the hell is Panty Anarchy?
Okay, so there’s really not a lot you can say about Panty’s origins, because much like Stocking, no ones knows how she became an angel (or fallen angel) in the first place. Many have speculated that during the end credits of every episode, Panty and her sister are human and seen in the various ways that the two of them could’ve died; by train, by car accident, by being stranded in the desert, shot to death, or being decapitated by Chuck. While there’s no real origin story from the creator himself, Panty and Stocking are just angels who ended up in Daten City after being kicked out of Heaven for being too raunchy. I will say that the 13th episode might hold a clue to who Panty was in her former life, but I’d also take that with a grain of salt because the whole thing was staged in order to get Panty to return to Daten City to save Brief during the Hellsgate chaos.
Part 2 – Panty’s Personality and Skill Set
It should be obvious but Panty has been portrayed as the ‘Hollywood Celebrity’ character of the series. She’s always on the hunt for new men to sleep with in just about every episode (even robot men). She has a spiteful attitude towards her sister, Brief, and of course Garterbelt, and doesn’t actually take her job at hunting ghosts seriously. Panty is also shameless with no moral compass, and has on various occasions danced half-naked on a stripper pole (or full nude in pornos) in front of live audiences. She’s also kinda envious of her sister when it comes to maintaining her figure; as Stocking can eat a truckload of sweets without gaining a single pound. Panty also has no strategy when fighting ghosts, as she believes pure power gets the job done. However, this also causes her to be the most vulnerable when it battle – especially during the heat of the moment when she has to improvise using actual guns compared to her angelic weapon.
While she may be reckless in the way she fights, Panty does have a serviceable amount of skill. She can transform her panties into Backlace; her weapon of choice. If she also has two pairs of panties, she can also create a second gun (or Backlace II) or combine them into a sniper rifle or sub-machine gun. Panty’s weapons have the power to hurt demons, ghosts, and other angels (going by what Stocking’s weapon did), and it also appears that she has enhanced vision; where she can see Brief and the Demon Sisters over 10 miles away. When Panty lost her virginity to Brief in the last episode, she stated that after getting her powers back she felt 100 times stronger than before. (Don’t know how true that is though…)
Part 3 – Legacy of Panty Anarchy
Panty Anarchy is the embodiment of the almighty stereotypical ‘rebellious teenager’ and ‘high school celebrity’ troupe that you’ve seen in any of those high school/college movies of the 2000’s. She thumbs her nose at authority, isn’t afraid to speak her mind, and is shameless in more ways than one. While she may be raunchy and in some cases ‘too raw’ for conservative types, there are guys who are kinda into girls who take charge and don’t back down to societies rules; like Brief. The concept of true love is something Panty has no interest in; as Stocking confronted her about it in the second half of episode 9, but deep down inside she really cares for Brief and possibly might even see a future with him…possibly.
With a second season announced there could be some speculation on what happens with Panty and Brief’s relationship, but then again, it could be just a one-off deal. So in review; Panty is the older sister of Stocking, loves sex more than anything, doesn’t take her job of hunting ghosts as seriously as she should, is a shameless plug, and has more screen time than Stocking. (Maybe that’s why she cut her up into 666 pieces, but I guess we can now deem the end credits of season one as a joke.)
And that’s it, that’s all I gotta say about Panty Anarchy.
Until next post, stay nerdy! ๐
D&A Studios Entertainment Recap (8.1.22)
Whew, what a weekend! No, we didn’t get the chance to go to any cons this weekend (though that could change by next year), but we do have some brand new videos on our D&A Studios Entertainment Youtube channel for you to check out! This week we’ll be rolling out our first ever Premium video with all of the fixin’s (quality-wise) that you’ll see in these videos below. By the way; the door to being a D&A Contributor is still open, so if you’re interested in writing some articles for us, hit us up on our Contact Us page. That’s all we’ve got for today, so until next post, stay nerdy my friends! ๐
One-2-One with D.J. Lewis: Kirby!
If you’re a 90’s kid like me, your childhood consisted of three things; Saturday Morning Cartoons, junk food, and video games. During that decade there were two warring factions that battled for childhood supremacy; Nintendo, known for their ‘PG safe’ attitude and a ‘rooted in play’ approach to gaming, and Sega, known for being the ‘new kid on the block’ with attitude and a ‘rooted in appeal’ approach to gaming. Both companies have their mascots, hit-maker franchises, and overall reach to 90’s kids all over the world; but that’s another post for another time. Today, we’re breaking down a Super Smash Bros. alumni; through his moves, his personality, and why he’s ‘mained’ by a large majority of the fandom. Its the ruff-and-tuff pink puff himself, Kirby.
I first met Kirby in 1993 through Kirby’s Adventure and Kirby’s Dream Land after beating Super Mario Bros. for what I believe to be the second, or third time. Much like Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, and the Pokemon franchise, Kirby’s reign on the gaming world has spanned three decades and at least two-and-a-half generations. From main games, spin-off titles, rebooted classics, and anime adaptations, it was no secret that Kirby was going to become a part of the biggest crossover brawler franchise Nintendo had ever created. Not only that, but compared to everyone on the Smash roster, he’s the only character who has defeated the most god-like, universe-ending villains this side of Planet Popstar. How you ask? Let’s find out, shall we?
Part 1 – The Origin of Kirby: The God Slayer!
Kirby…is so, so, SO simple when it comes to design! You draw a circle, dot the eyes, then add a smile. Masahiro Sakurai is the reason why Kirby exists, but how did Kirby get his name? Well, Kirby’s original name was Popopo (as weird as that is), and was meant to actually be a placeholder sprite for the original name of Kirby’s game, “Twinkle Popo”. Imagine if they stuck with that name; we’d have a franchise that kids today would jokingly mispronounce as ‘Twinkle Poopoo’. As far as how Kirby got his name, it might have something to do with Nintendo’s legal council; John Kirby. I guess Nintendo didn’t really like “Twinkle Popo” very much because they stated that it wouldn’t appeal to American children, and little did they know that 30 years later, they’d be right. As for his origin and where he’s from, well, he lives on Planet Popstar and is from Dream Land. As for his gender and how old he is, Kirby’s age and gender are both unknown.
Part 2 – Kirby’s Personality and Skill Set
Kirby has a child-like innocence and wonder, but also has a sense of justice in times of danger. He doesn’t really show any fear at all against world or universe-ending threats; rather remaining neutral throughout the whole ordeal. However on the flipside of the coin (in some of his games at least), Kirby has a bit of an impulsive streak when it comes to certain villains; like King Dedede, Dyna Blade, and Meta Knight. In the later games and even in the anime series Kirby: Right Back At Ya!, Kirby deeply cares about those around him and is very forgiving; even towards his fiercest of enemies. Kirby’s pretty famous on his planet as well as Dream Land, as the many enemies that he’s come across know him (or know of him) through his deeds and his popularity. However Kirby’s not one to let it go to his head, as he’s just someone that likes to help people when they need it.
If there’s one thing Kirby likes doing when he’s not saving the world or the universe, is eating…a lot! He’s basically like a bottomless pit, as he can put a table’s worth of food away quite easily, and can eat a cake the size of a mountain. (Goku can’t even do that!) Expired food doesn’t bother him, nor does hot and spicy food, however like any other person, he’s not fond of food that is disgusting or gross (like Whispy Wood’s poison apples or Belly Blaster’s pies in the anime). Speaking of the anime, Right Back At Ya! Kirby is more dimwitted and cowardly until he’s instructed to fight against a particular threat. Also in the anime, anything Kirby eats goes to some sort of dimension; which might explain why he’s able to put away so much food in such little time without issue.
When it comes to abilities and moves, Kirby’s got one that gets the job done depending on who he’s fighting; the Inhale. He can copy the ability of any enemy that has a weapon or elemental power; like fire, ice, water, earth, or lightning. In Kirby 64 you can actually have two different abilities at once after inhaling his enemies, and you can even throw them upwards, or straight across. Kirby of course can also float in the air for a short amount of time, as seen in Kirby’s Dream Land and onward, and can also use a skill called the ‘Air Gun’; where Kirby exhales a puff of air as a projectile that can damage enemies. Kirby’s portrayal in Super Smash Bros. references the moves from his games a lot; as for his Up Special he can use his Cutter Attack, his Down Special is his Rock Crusher (which Smash players have spammed on me multiple times, which I hated), his Side Special which he uses Dedede’s hammer, and the gold ol’ fashioned copy ability from the first game as his Special. He also shares a lot of his combat techniques with that of Knuckle Joe.
Part 3 – The Future of Kirby
Nintendo has done so much with this franchise, and its hard to think even for a second that Kirby is done. While he may not talk or seem like a big and buff heroic type, Kirby is just a simple character who patty-cakes with gods every single week, and then goes to sleep. It’s unknown if Kirby has a family or not, but in the anime he has people in his life who treat him like family. While his portrayal may differ between his video game and anime personality, Kirby continues to appeal to audiences all around the world; much like Mario and Sonic has. Smash players will continue to main him like they’ve done in the past (speaking from experience, although since Ultimate that experience may have changed), he’ll always have new games coming out on the latest systems, and he’ll always be the ‘ruff-and-tuff’ pink puff!
That will do it for this One-2-One, and as always until next post, stay nerdy! ๐
Wano Country Was Peak One Piece. Change my Mind
Ten Greatest Moments From One Pieceโs Wano Country Arc
After four years and 150 chapters, One Piece nears the end of the story of Wano Country. The biggest arc of the legendary manga to date, Wano Country had it all. The protagonists ascended to new heights of power. Fans got even more clues to the mystery surrounding the One Piece. And Luffy essentially became the Shonen Popeye.
With an arc that saw almost everyone share the spotlight, itโs hard to decide which moments were the best.
Kaido One-Shots Luffy
Everyone knew going in that Kaido would be the strongest Luffy faced up to that point. However, I don’t think anyone expected him to lose so easily. After getting the attention of the drunken Kaido, Luffy hits him with his strongest attack, only for Kaido to knock him out with little effort.
This moment hammered home the point that Luffy still wasn’t at the level of the Yonko. Fortunately, instead of killing him like a smart villain would, Kaido threw him in prison, where he trained to get even stronger. Dumb move, Kaido.
Yasuie Gets the Last Laugh on Orochi
One Piece is known for having some reprehensible villains, but Orochi might be among the worst. Unfortunately for the heroes, he was also very cunning. When he gets word about the upcoming rebellion, he wastes no time in arresting anyone involved. It’s only thanks to the sacrifice of Lord Yasuie that the heroes even get some breathing room.
By allowing himself to be publicly executed by Orochi, Yasuie convinced everyone that the coming rebellion wasn’t real. As a result, he died making the brutal tyrant look like a paranoid fool. He got the last laugh after all.
Zoro Gains the Blade of Oden
After Yasuieโs death, Zoro found his sword Shusui stolen by a thief who was determined to return it to the frame of its previous owner where it belonged. Needless to say, Zoro got it back without much effort. Then, Oden Kozukiโs daughter, Hiyori, offered a trade. In exchange for returning Shusui, she would give Zoro one of her fatherโs two swords, Enma.
To say Enma is a powerful sword is an understatement. Enmaโs downright terrifying, able to split off an entire section of the coast in one swipe! That is insane!
Oden Kozukiโs Introduction
After hearing people gush about how great a man Oden Kozuki was, fans finally got to meet him at the start of Act 3 of the Wano Arc. After failing to leave Wano once more, he crashes the funeral of an old friend and proceeds to use his crematory pyre to boil himself some Oden.
This one scene tells people a great deal about who Oden was. Heโs loyal to those he considers friends and will always honor them, even if others might not understand it. No wonder he fit right in with the Roger Pirates.
Oden Recalls Reaching Laugh Tale
Speaking of the Roger Pirates, the Wano Country Arc gave fans the most detailed chronicle of their final voyage to date. Told through the journal of Oden himself, fans follow the Roger Pirates all the way to Laugh Tale, the supposed final island of the Grand Line. While we donโt know yet what they found, it was enough to make them all laugh until their sides split. Hopefully, One Piece fans the world over will laugh and cry the same amount the day the series comes to an end.
Odenโs Legendary Hour of Execution
If people thought the way Gol D. Roger went out was amazing, then Oden Kozukiโs death rivals it in terms of badassery. Sentenced to death by boiling oil, Oden endures the burning pot for over an hour while holding his retainers above him in a battle for their freedom. While Orochi decides to kill them anyway, Oden ensures his retainers escape before allowing Kaido to kill him. It was less an execution, though, and more of a sign of respect to the man who came closest to ending Kaido.
The Raid on Onigashima Begins!
This was a moment years in the making. After struggling to gather enough people to challenge Kaido, the Alliance of Pirates and Samurai finally marches on Onigashima. In a moment thatโs equal parts badass and cathartic, the Red Scabbards sneak up on Kaido and plunge their swords into his chest. They fail to kill Kaido, but itโs still awesome to finally see them about to make Kaido face Justice for his crimes.
Luffy Pummels Kaido into the Ground
Luffy is the man who will become King of the Pirates, and that means he has no time to deal with a mere Yonko. In the series 1000th chapter, Luffy faces down the likes of Big Mom and Kaidoโฆonly to ignore them and focus on his fallen friends. Then, to add insult to injury, Luffy pummels Kaido into the ground. And unlike last time, it hurts the beast. All hail the King, people.
Kid and Law Defeat Big Mom
Big Mom is one of the most sadistic, sociopathic pirates in all of One Piece and one of the strongest. Her grudge against Luffy meant that a fight between them was inevitable, or so it seemed. In one of the greatest team-ups in the franchise, Eustass Kid and Trafalgar Law show just why theyโre part of the Worst Generation of Pirates. The fight is close, but in the end, the two take down the Yonko, sending her into a magma chamber far below Wano Country.
Luffy Awakens His Devil Fruit
Since the reveal that Devil Fruits could awaken to get even stronger, fans waited for the moment when it would happen to Luffy. When the moment finally came, it didn’t disappoint. Pushed to his absolute limits by Kaido, Luffy wound up awakening his Devil Fruit and gained a power that made him a rubber-hosed God in the mold of Popeye. What followed was one of the silliest fights in Shonen history as Luffy proceeded to wreck Kaido. Joy Boy has returned!
Why You Need to Read Diligence of the Shield Hero!
RJ Writing Ink Interviews Allen Blaster, author of the Shield Hero fanfic, Diligence of the Shield Hero.
In 2019, The Rising of the Shield Hero made waves in the anime community. It was a different kind of Isekai, one where the hero wasn’t an ace that succeeded at everything but one that struggled in a world out to get him. It proved very popular. Then we got the second season earlier this year, and it felt like all that potential went down the drain.
I would’ve been very disappointed in how the second season turned out…if I had watched it more. However, I have already found something else to love. A fanfiction for Shield Hero that’s so good that it surpasses the official series: The Diligence of the Shield Hero. For the last year, I’ve known the fanfic’s author, Allen Blaster, fairly well on Discord. Thus, when I wanted to interview him for D&A Anime, I was delighted to hear him say yes. I hope you enjoy this interview about one of the best fanfic one could expect to find and the one behind it.
Interview
RJ: Thank you again for doing this interview, Allen.
Allen: Alright.
RJ: First thing’s first, though: what made you want to get into writing fanfiction in the first place?
Allen:
This pretty much sums up why I got into fanfiction in the first place. I am a sucker for teenage romance. And after reading a lot of it, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at writing my own.
RJ: You really are a fan of Ren and Wyndia, huh?
Allen:
RJ: So, Allen, when did you discover The Rising of the Shield Hero? Were you a fan of it before the anime came out or did that lead you to become a fan?
Allen: I discovered it in June of 2019 thanks to the recommendation of a good friend. I only recently watched anime with some roommates like Code Geass and Attack on Titan, and decided to give it a shot. I binged the entire first season throughout one night, and the rest was history.
RJ: Nice. So, why don’t you tell us a little about your series, Diligence of the Shield Hero? For the readers that haven’t read it yet. Like, what’s it about and what sets it apart from the official series.
Allen: It starts with Naofumi learning of the rape accusation before he was accused and what happens to him after that because he ran away. Then it evolves by kickstarting character growth for the other Heroes earlier on due to how events go down well, focusing not only on Naofumi but on the other Heroes and their parties too.
RJ: And it’s all the better for it. Now the series has an ensemble cast that can carry their own weight.
Allen: I feel that is one issue the anime had regarding its second season. Ironically enough, I’m staying more true to the characters and events from the light novels than they were. There was so much content they cut from the Spirit Tortoise Arc that further established Eclair, Granny, and even the other Heroes like Ren.
RJ: What was your inspiration for writing this fanfic?
Allen: Obviously not the entire thing. It started out with me just wanting to write a start that’d allow for Raphumi to develop because I loved them so much in the anime. I ended up loving them even more after reading the LN’s and seeing how much Raphtalia meant to Naofumi there. Then, after the first arc, I ended up writing more and more, continuing down the rabbit hole to see where the path would go
RJ: Plenty of people would think shipping Naofumi with Raphtalia Is weird due to her technically being ten. Do you think it is?
Allen: I have a whole freaking thing on my fanfiction profile explaining why this is stupid. I sum it up as “if you want to argue another race’s age instead of how quickly or slowly they mature being the primary thing that makes them legal, you are advocating for Baby Yoda to be made legal.” In short, I don’t find it weird at all, and what I find weird is people trying to inflict human standards on a race that isn’t human, to begin with.
RJ: Fair enough. Btw, did you know that your fic’s tv tropes page says it’s better than canon?
Allen: Yes, I do know that. And it is fine for people to have their opinions. But I don’t prefer people using that message to spread word of my fic around. Despite its shortcomings, I love the anime, and I love the light novels it’s based off of even more. I cannot put into words how much the original story means to me.
RJ: How were you able to make Bitch even worse than she was in canon?
Allen: I didn’t. I simply allowed her more opportunities to be herself.
RJ: With more screentime?
Allen: And the version of events that played out. The first real big change up was nothing stopping Motoyasu from being made the Lord of Lute (Riyute) Village. So there was nothing to stop Malty from doing what she was going to do there.
RJ: Where do you get inspiration for all your original characters? Because there are quite a number of them.
Allen: The inspiration sometimes comes from them getting introduced into the story for an event and me thinking about them in general. That was how my Hakuko OC Dou-Lon ended up getting added to it. Other times, I start with a concept for a character like Altara, and then, later on, I had thoughts that led to a parallel with Darth Vader’s transformation. And I look at what I wrote and realize I can fit it in easily.
RJ: Alright, last question: Who’s cuter, Raphtalia, Filo, or Raph-Chan?
Allen: Wyndia, Lol.
He really likes Wyndia, a dog demihuman that the anime has yet to introduce.
Click here to read the fanfic for yourself. Updates Every Monday
D&A Anime Blog: 50,000 All-Time Views Celebration Post!
How about that? We’ve achieved another milestone on our nerdy adventure of becoming one of the best anime blogs out there! Honestly we couldn’t have reached this milestone without the love and support of our fans and fellow anibloggers. Sure, we may have hit a few bumps on the road on the way here, but thanks to our fans we pushed and persevered through all of it!
While we’re here, we wanted to give you a brief update on how we’re going to be implementing our Premium Paid Content video posts for the blog. These short videos are exclusive only to our blog site, and starting in August we’ll be launching 2-3 of these videos a month. What they will be on is a mystery…
Also, we’ve got more One-2-One character analysis posts we’ll be doing throughout the rest of the Summer. As a sneak peek we’ll reveal the next two characters we’ll be analyzing.
Next Week on One-2-One: Kirby!
This pink, squishy, lovable creature has quite a history with Nintendo; from main games, spin-off titles, to being a Super Smash Bros. alumni since 1999. The lore that Kirby has is vast, and the appeal he has on the general public and Kirby fans is as massive as his appetite. Next week on One-2-One we deep dive into this pudgy pink puff and his history on how he became such a Smash Bros. main, as well as a popular Nintendo franchise.
The Week After Next on One-2-One: Panty Anarchy!
With Studio TRIGGER’s announcement of a second season of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt during their panel at Anime Expo 2022, why not do a character analysis on the Anarchy sister who hogs all the screen time (even though Stocking is a fan-favorite). Panty is the more rebellious sister who doesn’t take her job of hunting ghosts and collecting heaven coins seriously; leaving Stocking to do most of the work. In her One-2-One we dive into what makes Panty…well, Panty; from her skills, abilities, relationships, and whatever else we can dig up.
That’s all we’ve got for this celebration post, and here’s to 100,000 All-Time views when that moment arrives! Stay nerdy! ๐
How American Culture Influenced Anime?
There is a good reason why anime has become quite popular today as there are a lot of different high-quality animated shows produced by Japan. In that regard, anime has invaded all of the other nations because of how popular it is and how different people from all over the world love watching different types of anime series. But the thing is that, while anime has a huge influence on the world today, it was originally influenced by American culture. And the influence of America on anime is what we are here to look at.
Where Did Anime Come From?
While we often look at Astro Boy as the first anime series in the history of anime, that really isnโt the case as far as the early roots of anime are concerned. In fact, anime has been around for a long time in Japan, even though it wasnโt really called anime before that. And the early beginnings of Japanese โanimationโ began in the late 1910s when Shimokawa Oten released an animated film made with chalk.
Meanwhile, in the 1930s and 40s, Japan eventually improved its technology, especially with the fact that the country was becoming more westernized. Kenzo Masaoka released Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka in 1933 as this was the first animated Japanese movie with synced voices. He eventually released Chagama Ondo, which was the first anime that was made entirely of celluloid.
In that regard, animating with celluloid became quite popular in Japan, especially with the fact that the traditional form of technology in animated films and television shows was introduced by the western world. During the 1930s, more and more animated movies were coming out of the US, as Japan was steadily embracing the different western movies and the technology that came with them.
It wasnโt until the 1960s that the first animated television shows were released. In fact, before the 60s, people had to go to theaters to watch anime. Of course, it was after the Second World War that Japan steadily embraced western technology and began inventing their own televisions as well. The rise of the TV in Japan opened the gateway for Astro Boy, which is regarded as the first animated television show in the history of anime.
Since then, anime television shows steadily evolved into what they are today as more and more studios adopted western technology and innovated them to fit the style that made anime so popular in Japan. And that was when more and more anime TV shows that were inspired by their western counterparts became more popular in Japan and all over the world.
How America Influenced Anime
The rise of anime in Japan and all over the world led to huge development in the way the writers and animators created their masterpieces. Thatโs because globalization meant that it was best for them to make sure that their creations were also able to attract the attention of global audiences, particularly those from the west, as America is still the largest market in the world. So, because of the fact that anime needed to be as international as possible, there were subtle American influences in anime.
Food
You can find subtle American influences in the way different anime shows include food in the daily lives of their characters. For example, in the popular anime Hana Yori Dango, western food like ice cream and hamburgers were quite common throughout the entire series as there was a need to make the anime enticing to western audiences as well while also exposing domestic viewers to American food culture, which is often centered on fast food.
Even in the anime, The Devil Works As a Part-Timer, the series revolves around the Devil himself working part-time in a fast-food restaurant. We also see in Weathering With You that the lead female character also works for a fast-food restaurant instead of the usual traditional Japanese restaurant.
Character Appearances
The appearances of anime characters themselves already give us a hint in relation to how American culture has affected anime. As early as Astro Boy himself, we already know for a fact that the characters in this 1960s anime donโt really look like your prototypical Japanese person.
Male characters in anime are often portrayed to be tall and muscular, even though most Japanese men arenโt even taller than 5โ7โ. In fact, shojo anime often portray their characters to be large and muscular men, similar to how the characters of Jojoโs Bizarre Adventure are tall, muscular, and commanding men that donโt resemble Japanese men. Their looks, of course, were influenced by the common American male appearance as most Americans are taller and more muscular than their Japanese counterparts.
Women in anime are also portrayed differently. Teenage high school women are already given mature features that allow them to look like their western counterparts in the sense that they look like adult women that have generously proportioned breasts and buttocks, even though most Japanese women arenโt as voluptuous as American women are.
Of course, the fact that the characters all have large eyes tends to be the biggest western influence on anime character design. Allowing the characters to have large eyes makes them more appealing to non-Japanese audiences, as even the Japanese audiences themselves have gotten used to the fact that anime characters are given large eyes that resemble the ones that Americans have.
Despite the fact that people with African heritage are quite rare in Japan, more and more anime characters are portrayed to be African precisely because of the fact that a huge market of anime viewers in America are black. In fact, the English dubbing of these characters is also handled by African-Americans. Meanwhile, their Japanese voice counterparts are given darker and more imposing voices due to a Japanese stereotype regarding Africans.
Themes
There is also the fact that there are a lot of themes that are western in nature in relation to the storyline of the anime and how the characters talk and converse with one another. While Nihongo is still the original audio in anime, more and more anime series are dubbed in English to appeal to American audiences
In terms of the themes covered by anime, we often see subtle hints of the blue and white (America) vs. the red (Russians) in anime series like Gundam. It is more often than not that the main characters in Gundam use blue and white colors while their antagonistic counterparts of ten use red.
The rich vs. poor theme has also been used quite extensively in anime, as the rich characters are often portrayed to have Caucasian American features and are often dressed in western fashion. On the other hand, the poor anime characters are given common Japanese features and are often dressed in the usual clothes that the Japanese wear.
Still, despite the fact that western culture has invaded anime, there is no doubt that anime is still a purely Japanese phenomenon thatโs simply laced with American themes and subtle references to make the shows more marketable to western audiences. In fact, most of the themes covered by the narratives of different anime series tend to be quite Japanese in their nature, such as the focus on family and traditions. Nevertheless, American culture has still influenced anime due to the fact that western influences tend to be quite difficult to avoid in this globalized world we live in.
One-2-One with D.J. Lewis: Kurumi Tokisaki
Waifus. Ask any anime fan in the community, and they will give you a list of them that they absolutely adore. We’re no exception to this, as we have our choice waifus as well; mine of course would be Stocking Anarchy from Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, while Aaron’s would be Hestia from Danmachi…and for some reason Kurumi Tokisaki from Date-A-Live. Speaking of which the fourth season of the series just ended, and reviews of the show (from fans) have been a bit of a toss up between ‘okay’, ‘meh’, and ‘no’. Although I’ve only watched the first two seasons and part of the third, I STILL don’t get the full story of Kurumi; how is she the most dangerous and most malevolent out of all of the spirits, and what’s with the time-traveling powers?! Well, I had to dig deep for this one, and hopefully I’ll get the answers to my questions in this little One-2-One, on Kurumi Tokisaki.
I’m late to the party on this series, but there was a point in time where there was a fair amount of cosplay of the main cast from season one of Date-A-Live at anime conventions. Basically massive ‘spacequakes’ are being caused by these ‘spirits’ and Shido is the one who has to seal them up; the first of which being Tohka. As the series went on Shido sealed these spirits by going on ‘dates’ with them, while keeping their emotions and feelings at high levels. Sure, it seemed like a walk in the park for ol’ Shido after he got the hang of it (sealing spirits and all), but when Kurumi came into the picture, everything changed…
She’s reported to be the worst spirit to ever try and seal, and is near-impossible to do so. Kurumi’s also the only spirit with a lot of blood on her hands; 10,000 pairs of hands to be exact. When it comes to female anime antagonists, there are just some things that they’re better at then male anime antagonists. (That is a hill I’m prepared to die on! XP)
Part 1 – The Worst Spirit: Who is Kurumi Tokisaki?
So, what’s Kurumi’s deal? Why is she the most deadly out of all of the spirits Shido has sealed? Why does she have sexy music playing every time she appears? (Like another Sonic character we all know.) To try and figure her out we need to go back to the time before she became a spirit. Kurumi was a human girl who came from a rich family (that’s usually how these origin stories start), but on her way home she was attacked by a monster known as a ‘Spirit’. That monster was killed by a girl wearing a dress made of light, and revealed her name to be Mio Takamiya; claiming herself to be an “ally of justice”. She told Kurumi if she wanted the same power she has, she would have to absorb the Sephira Crystal and bond with it thus turning Kurumi into a spirit.
Both Kurumi and Mio were taking on other spirits and everything seemed to be going fine, until Kurumi discovered that Mio killed her best friend; causing her to inverse (which I found out is actually a bad thing). She managed to stop herself from transforming by using her ‘4th bullet’ to reverse the inverse, but afterwards Mio came clean about her motives. She was using the Sephira Crystals to bond with humans while turning them into monsters before they kill them, in order to refine them. When it was all said and done, Mio thanked Kurumi for ‘her service’ and caused her to blackout. The rest of course, was history…
Part 2 – Personality, Skills, and Abilities
Kurumi is difficult to read, and most of the time with characters like this it’s so easy for them to manipulate others because of that. Right off the bat Kurumi dislikes humans (while Goku Black loathes them entirely) to the point of not trusting them at all, and somewhere along the line she’s also got acting chops; which plays into her difficult-to-read personality. While she may put on a cute facade from time to time, underneath is a mad woman who will disregards all human life and only sees them as ‘food’ to help restore her time. I know there’s some Goku Black x Kurumi fan fiction out there, and God help us if those two got together.
Though she has a twisted sense of justice, a majority of the people she’s killed were animal abusers and rapists. (So maybe some of her actions may have been justified…some.) Kurumi’s ultimate goal is to go back in time to kill the first spirit (Mio) and prevent spacequakes and the appearance of spirits from ever happening in the first place. Of course if she did that, she’d also wipe out Kotori and all of the other spirits that Shido helped to seal as well from existence. Kurumi does not think of herself as a great person by any means, and has shown Shido (and Phantom) that she’s the worst kind of person. However, Kurumi likes cats and is kinda embarrassed about it, so I guess she’s not all bad…but she’s pretty bad.
Her skills and abilities as a spirit are on another level. Living up to her reputation as the ‘Worst Spirit’, Kurumi is a brutal fighter who will stop at nothing to ensure she comes out on top. She’s able to amass an army of clones at a moments notice to overwhelm her opponents; making it impossible to even land a hit on her. Kurumi is also quite the unique spirit because she possesses two Sephira Crystals which allows her to call on two ‘Angels’; one of them being Zafkiel which takes on a large clock with roman numerals with a pistol and musket that serve as the hour and minute hands respectively. Kurumi also has Time Manipulation abilities that she uses through her powers of her shadows, Reiryoku, and time itself as fuel.
The type of effect her time bullets have will depend on the number her Angel as well as her flintlock. The downside to this ability/skill is the fact that these bullets consume her time (or life force), and depending on the number of the bullet, it may consume more time than the others. Her first bullet accelerates her target’s time, and can increase her speed in battle. Her second one does the opposite and slows the enemy down, and Kurumi can save a little time this way. Her third bullet speeds up the aging process of her target. Her forth bullet restores injuries on its targets. Her fifth bullet allows Kurumi to see into the future (like Epitaph from JoJo). Kurumi’s sixth bullet sends the target’s consciousness back to their past self, which also puts the amount of time and Reiryoku into a loop.
Bullet number seven freezes the target’s time for a short time. Bullet number eight creates a clone of the target, which might explain why Kurumi has so many clones. Bullet nine allows her to share her senses with someone on a different axis of time. Bullet ten peaks into the object or target’s past, which is how Kurumi regained her memories. Bullet eleven sends the target into the future, while bullet twelve sends its target into the past. This is the bullet Kurumi wants to use on herself and has been experimenting with the most in order to go back in time and kill Mio. Kurumi is able to devour her victims through Shadow Manipulation (which she uses for quick escapes), and her ‘City of Devouring’ (which ‘devours’ the time/life force of those caught in its barrier).
Okay, that was a lot of information, so let’s get to the final verdict. >.<
Part 3 – The Legacy of the Worst Spirit
Kurumi is just as strong as the first spirit (Mio) and has struck fear into the hearts of those she encounters due to her reputation. Her sense of justice can be seen as sick and twisted from a moral prospective, but there’s a small sense of heroism inside of her – even though she doesn’t want to be called a hero. Kurumi is the kind of character who knows she is evil in her own right; much like Evangeline A.K. McDowell from the first Mahoru Sensei Negima manga, and Junko Enoshima from Danganronpa. Most of the time anime characters like this don’t appear to have any redeeming qualities whatsoever; whenever they commit mass genocide or other unforgivable crimes, but in Kurumi’s case, the only way she believes she can redeem herself is by killing the spirit that turned her into a spirit – saving millions of lives in the process.
Characters like this who believe humanity has no redeeming qualities can be quite fearsome and terrifying, and in some cases can (and will) expose humanity’s shortcomings at any moment it serves them. Anime protagonists like Shido try to tell them that not all humans are totally evil, and can redeem themselves (even her), but Kurumi and characters like her are not trying to hear it. She’s proven that if she wanted to cause worldwide destruction, she can and she will. I’ll never understand why despite her reputation of being the ‘Worst Spirit’, Date-A-Live fans find her alluring, captivating, sexy, and waifu material. Kurumi has redeemable qualities, but will not embrace them because of who she is.
Kurumi is a character that is hard to read. Its hard to understand what she’s thinking most of the time, or even why she’s the most provocative out of all of the spirits. At the end of the day, she is who she is; a malevolent spirit with a sadistic disposition and alluring charm, who hates humanity and doesn’t like being called a ‘kind person’. She will achieve specific goals that she’s set for herself and will do whatever it takes to accomplish those goals. Although her role in the series as shifted to that of an anti-heroine, Kurumi retains her sadistic and cruel nature to those that dare oppose her, or get in the way of her ultimate goal. If looks could kill, her name would be Kurumi.
That’s all we’ve got for this One-2-One, so until next post, stay nerdy! ๐
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