Despite its enthusiastic embrace of playful exaggeration and dramatic pageantry, Baki the Grappler shouldn’t be written off as mind-numbing entertainment for the masses. A critical analysis of Baki as contemporary anime, and a part of pop culture more broadly speaking, can help us all better understand how performative masculinity functions—and why it is so potentially dangerous.
Writer Roland Kelts opened up about his early childhood relationship with anime and manga, the status that Japanamerica holds today, cross cultural influence in media, female characters in manga and anime, and his work on The Art of Blade Runner: Black Lotus.
The way this writer, a member of the dubbing team, talked about the show and his inability or refusal to unpack even its most basic themes spoke to the sort of misogyny that pervades critical analysis, in which female characters and creators don’t get even the slightest grace for being messy, imperfect beings.
Vrai, Alex, and Peter check-in on the 2024 Winter season, where quite a few titles with a lot of potential have a lot riding on their second halves!
Identity is a complicated subject; the ways we can reflect, parse, and better try to know ourselves are nearly infinite, while the ways we can convey that to others effectively are not. Usually, we are limited in how we present by the economic and social pressures of our society. The cyborg challenges its fans to ask themselves: if what makes us people isn’t as concrete as flesh and blood, then what other unshakable, unchangeable truths about ourselves have we been wrong about?
This series has always been queer, it’s just been handled in different ways, with earnest character writing that nonetheless reflected the stereotypes and assumptions of the early 2000s, before unfolding into a more careful, nuanced narrative of sexual fluidity and love in the 2020s.
We’re celebrating 200 episodes! And what better way than for mega Utena fan Vrai to talk Cy and Chiaki through their very first viewing of the series?
This has been a season of reversals so far, with strong premieres stumbling and wobbly starts finding their stride. Check out the shows in need of a second look!
We’re trying something new this year! Folks have requested more coverage of films, and we aim to please. Welcome to our first year-end film recommendation round-up!
2023 saw some massive franchises retire, others make history, and old favorites return. Settle in and check out our favorites from the year that was!
