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The Re-Up: Return of the Melaninjas
5 Plays4 years ago
We are back for Season 2, but first it's only right that we reintroduce ourselves! Hear where our affinity for anime comes from and our Top 5 anime!
Recommended
Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:09
Speaker
Every story, every battle, every model, every child, every dream, every team, it don't matter if you proud, gotta bleed for it Yeah, nigga, gotta bleed for it
00:00:20
Speaker
See my ancestors from Manchester to now I've been to underground stories Since niggas was underground we them black ninjas Who making our mamas proud better tune in nigga We taking it all around it's the meloninjas So go and tell the fam we need better figures And we don't fuck with Uncle Sam better get the picture These black hands make black bands And I'll be the greatest nigga like the last dance meloninjas
00:00:59
Speaker
Hello, Meloninjas. I am one of your hosts, Emerson, along with Alex and Kawan.
Top 5 Favorite Animes of the Hosts
00:01:05
Speaker
We are your Meloninjas. We talk all things anime. We aren't experts, just very passionate anime fans who are happy to give their opinion and perspectives on various topics. So this is season two, the first episode of season two. And we're going to take it back a little bit, actually. We're going to do something that we probably should have done at the beginning of season one.
00:01:28
Speaker
which is we're gonna each go around and tell you our top five. And then also just some anime we enjoy watching and how we got into anime a little bit and our preferences in the shows that we watch. So to kick it off, throw this to Alex.
Alex's Anime Journey
00:01:45
Speaker
Hello, hello, everybody. Okay, so I just want to figure out give a little background about myself and kind of jump into why I am, you know, really such a big anime fan in general and like the type of anime that really catches my attention.
00:02:01
Speaker
So a little bit about me is I'm someone who's always been fascinated by just the human mind and like how we think as people same with just what did it means to really be alive, our consciousness and what it means to really be here on this earth, both just physically and spiritually. I'm currently studying in neuropsychology. I've been working in the field for a little while and hoping to, you know, really build a career out of that.
00:02:27
Speaker
And I'm also someone who's always really loved art. I'm an artist myself. I love to draw and love music, really just any form of expression of art. I'm just someone who's really interested in that. And I just think there really is so much beauty around us. And I think that is really part of what it is to be alive and just really something that gets me excited when I just am outside and just in general. I also really love the sun and so on and so on.
00:02:55
Speaker
So I find that anime is really just one of the most ultimate art forms, both in just the artwork itself, just in the drawings and the animation, because how many people have to collaborate and come together to make it really seem lifelike and alive. But I also think it really just captures raw emotion, like raw emotions and just passion, and it really moves people.
00:03:17
Speaker
I think that its ability to connect people is what is just so powerful about it as an art form in and of itself. For me, the kinds of anime that really get me are the ones that really tap into those deeper emotions for people, both just in
00:03:37
Speaker
When they kind of just when they just can tap into something a little bit deeper, when the when it's plot driven and when it when the beauty of the art itself comes together with the characters and the in the animation, just it really kind of pulls everything together. So for me, one of my favorite anime will always be Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood. That is just one that always
Kawan's Anime Preferences
00:03:58
Speaker
stood out to me. I actually the first time when I was a kid watching it, I couldn't even watch it because it moved me so much and it actually terrified me. The homunculi and just how
00:04:07
Speaker
how real everything felt, it just was horrifying that it just really did something to me. But as an adult, I could really appreciate where they were going and the message that it was stemming. So full metal alchemists will always be just incredible to me.
00:04:24
Speaker
I recently, during quarantine, have had some time, and I've actually been able to watch Parasite, and I really like that one as well this year. It's another standout for me. I love The Promise Netherland. I think it's pretty popular, but not quite as popular as maybe some of the other typical
00:04:42
Speaker
Shonen that that we that we talk about on this on our on our podcast, but I've really I love the promise another land and just them sitting down and plotting and trying to put their heads together to get out of the
00:04:56
Speaker
just escape and then to then then what you know I love that this story is more than just about okay like this is all you're doing but now now that we've achieved it what's going on like how do we what do we do next another one that's really moved me a lot lately is just my hero academia I kind of got to go with the classic there's just a lot of tropes and things in there that just really connect with me as well
00:05:19
Speaker
And another one that's really stood out to me, because I'm talking in no particular order, because these are just ones that have really stood out for me, is the is jujitsu Kaizen. That one has kind of another one that just recently got got animated. And I hadn't really I'm admittedly not hadn't read the manga or the not the manga, this is actually a Korean based anime, but
00:05:42
Speaker
I have not read the source material for it and so it's got me really excited to go back because I'd say it's really kind of crept back up for me that's crept up in my list because that fifth slot is pretty, pretty tough. There's a lot of them that are really good. I would have put, of course, you got to throw out Naruto that's up there. I can't say, Naruto is a wonderful one and obviously it's
00:06:08
Speaker
one very close and dear to my heart. But I don't know, I can't put it solidly, solidly in my top five because I feel like it's right up there with... It's almost like...
00:06:21
Speaker
It stands up there at the very, very top, but I feel like I love each one for different reasons, so I don't know. And I also threw out Your Lie in April because even though that one is, again, not as popular as some of the others we talk about, that one really moved me.
00:06:38
Speaker
and spoke to me at a time, I guess, when it just, something about it was very powerful and I just loved it. I actually have that one on Blu-ray. So, and my last kind of honorable mention is gotta be Bleach because even though it kind of ended up going downhill at the end there, that was one of the ones that got me really interested in it. I mean, I remember interested in anime. I remember staying up late when I was on Toonami just to watch Bleach come on late at night.
00:07:04
Speaker
just really loved those characters and just the story and the action and that was just crazy. So yeah, that's, I'd say that those are my, those are the ones that are really standing out to me right now on my list. I'll also now pass it over to Kawan. He'll explain his, his, his anime lists and choices and we'll go from there.
00:07:27
Speaker
Well, thanks Alex. I want to start with my love of anime. So my love of anime comes from several different things. It comes from
00:07:34
Speaker
The storylines, it comes from, I don't know, just honestly a lot. So when I talk about how I love anime because of the storylines, like it's fantasy. So you get to kind of enjoy and live out these stories that obviously would never happen in real life. So that's the main reason. Everybody needs to escape from reality at some point, especially nowadays. I also love anime because
00:08:03
Speaker
I like fighting. I'm a bit of a warmonger, admittedly. And so I enjoy almost every type of, every shonen I can get my hands on. I find something to love about it.
00:08:13
Speaker
It's just, I don't know, I guess as a man too, we have a lot, there's a lot to delve into. Alex will have to be my therapist on this one about like, you know, hidden aggression and how we bow our stuff up. But I think that's one of the reasons why I enjoy it is because, you know, you get to see people just releasing and doing what you want to do sometimes. Like everybody wants to punch somebody in the face, realistic.
00:08:35
Speaker
And I enjoy those anime where you get to kind of see it happen and they make it all flashy and just beautiful, which is another reason, the art too, like Alex mentioned, the art is always something that just keeps you on the edge of your seat and keeps you intensely focused on whatever's going on on the screen. All right, so for those reasons, I would have to say that my top five anime right now, and this list changes frequently, to be honest, my top five anime right now have to be Hunter x Hunter,
00:09:05
Speaker
My Hero Academia, Parasite, History, Strongness, Disciples, Koneji, that's always gonna be on there, and Assassination Classroom.
00:09:16
Speaker
And I have different reasons for all of those. So Hunter, Hunter, there's one particular scene that always stands out to me. And everybody knows it's the most popular scene where Gon is about to kill Pito. And that scene really sticks out to me. But just because very rarely is so much emotion captured in an anime. And at that moment, just that level of despair, that level of emotion, I get drawn to that. So that's always going to be good.
00:09:42
Speaker
And then my hero, and so my hero and Kenichi are kind of along the similar vein. I have an addiction to anime that show like a constant progression of the character. Like don't get me wrong, I can appreciate the one punch man through like the character comes out the gate, OP and just ridiculously strong. But I also enjoy, and I think it's more realistic the story where you suck at something and you're terrible at it and you develop.
00:10:08
Speaker
And that's something that I think that I just appreciate a lot progress. So those two definitely I like I like the way that they do pick progress. So I keep those on my list and assassination classroom just
00:10:24
Speaker
I liked it when I was younger and I saw it, but as I got older, I started to listen to the lessons. You start reading and actually trying to interpret the words that they're saying on the screens. This dude was actually out here giving these niggas life lessons.
00:10:40
Speaker
It was really crazy. It's like you don't think you've learned some things from some places, and it's just like, that's actually, I could use that now. I'm at church sometimes at Adam. Just some of the lessons and stuff they come across, there are things that we may come to grips with sometimes. So that's my list. So I'm going to toss it over to Amos.
Emerson's Competitive Anime Choices
00:11:07
Speaker
Ooh, that's a tough act to follow.
00:11:10
Speaker
I felt that take me to church moments, you know, you have those quite frequently, at least for me when I'm watching anime. In terms of my background with anime, and how it relates to me as a person, I'm a highly competitive person, super competitive, as all my friends know. And I kind of look for that in
00:11:31
Speaker
in anime. It just happens to be that the shonen variety shows you a lot more competition, whether it's like the rivalry tropes, tournament tropes and stuff like that. But I love seeing competition be depicted in anime. And along with competition, you know, it's the other the other things that I value too, like pushing me on your limits, sacrifices that you have to make, raw motion. So those are some things I definitely look for.
00:12:02
Speaker
when looking at anime. But I also, I'm also like, there are other things that I care about, such as like how principled the characters are, which is hilarious. Like, one of my favorite things to I always say with people is just like, my, my morals always kick in at the most inconvenient time. And it's something that you see, like, I probably picked that up from anime, right? Like, you see a lot of these characters that, especially villains, that
00:12:28
Speaker
for whatever reason, they always seem more principled than the hero or the antagonist. And it's like literally at the last second, they stopped themselves from doing something that you would consider to be evil, but you can't be bad at them for doing because they are a villain. And that's something that always resonated with me, I should say. It's like the principles and how principled characters are.
00:12:55
Speaker
Um, but I'm also like a thinker and I love strategy. So I like anime that kind of depict that. So my list, uh, some of these have already been said, uh, and after Yu Yu Hakusho, Yu Yu Hakusho is my number one. If you know me, you know, Yu Yu Hakusho is my number one. After that, everything else could fall in line. Doesn't matter. Um, but for me, Yu Yu Hakusho all time, number one, Dragon Ball series. Um, you know, I, like I said before, highly.
00:13:25
Speaker
competitive person, I think of Vegeta. Like for me, Vegeta makes that series. Yes, the whole show is about Goku and Goku is the king of plot armor, but Vegeta's story and his arc of how he got there and hit this man pushing beyond limits and willing to sacrifice literally everything. You know, the Majin Buu series, he sacrifices humanity.
00:13:47
Speaker
to be number one, to be the top dog. I respected that and I thought that was pretty cool. And it didn't distill like hold on to his values as he decided to sacrifice himself with that self-destruct maneuver. That is not a spoiler. Hunter, Hunter. It kind of goes to another idea that I care about, which is that I didn't mention before, but I kind of love this aura around people
00:14:16
Speaker
that don't give a fuck. The people that just do whatever they want because they can. And you don't see them suffer repercussions from doing that. I'm sure there are repercussions of that. In terms of a real life person that probably does that or exude that energy, I think Rihanna. But there are no anime characters based off Rihanna. We might have to make our own. But when I think Hunter Hunter, my favorite character on there is Killua.
00:14:46
Speaker
And Killua literally can do anything. He can fight everyone. People are terrified of him. And I like that. I like that aspect of him being able to do whatever he wants. And that really the whole Zaldik family being able to do whatever they want. But something that also adds to what I was saying before about the high competition. Killua, and this is up for debate, but like, you know, I think it's arguable to say that Killua is stronger than Gon. But
00:15:14
Speaker
Killua is extremely envious of them. They're best friends, but they're in constant competition with each other. And I like seeing stuff like that. When you see someone that, in theory, has everything, but they realize that they're deficient in some way. And he acts on that throughout the whole series. And they're best friends. When I say envious, I probably use that for lack of a better term, because there's no animosity between the two of them. And there's no dirty dealings or anything like that.
00:15:44
Speaker
So I really appreciate that. Naruto, you know, sucker for that competitive show. So Sasuke and Naruto, love them. But my favorite character on there is easily Itachi. I like Kakashi. Kakashi's pretty close up there for me too, but like Itachi. And then Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood. I like that because I kind of like what Alex was saying before. It's just like the raw emotions and the complexity of that show.
00:16:12
Speaker
And I think without giving a spoiler, just seeing the development of each character. And then once you come around towards the end, seeing how the whole story comes full circle and what you believe to be true may or may not be true. I see how that plays out. I think that's such a hard thing to do after you feed someone information, a whole series or not just an anime, but like in any type of media, you know, you feed someone certain type of content and then
00:16:42
Speaker
and kind of pull the rug out from under them. That was epic for me when they do that in regards to the war that sparked all of this, all of the events that happen in Brotherhood. But yeah, that's my five and it's like not easy for me to make a five. Like that's probably like my all-time five, mostly because I love Cowboy Bebop, like Spike Spiegel is like one of my favorite anime characters ever. I love Samurai Champloo,
00:17:12
Speaker
and Mugen, again, two of my favorite anime characters, and in terms of being principled and kind of telling a full story, a real story too, not one where the protagonist wins just because they're the protagonist, or they win without losing anything.
00:17:29
Speaker
Akame got killed. Tatsumi is like, he's a real one. So you should watch that. It's a quick watch.
Debate: Mob Psycho vs. One Punch Man
00:17:36
Speaker
It's about 24 episodes, but a note on that, like a fun fact on that, like the anime changed like the last eight, the last eight episodes are like a drastic change from what the manga is like. So you should definitely rebuild and see which way you come out in terms of liking it. In terms of this, like newer stuff that I like to watch though,
00:17:58
Speaker
Like it was said before, My Hero Academia, Fire Force, Vinland Saga, Parasite, Invaded ID. Big fan of both Tower of God and God of High School.
00:18:11
Speaker
And you're lying, April is pretty big up there for me. Alex introduced me to that one and I was very surprised because I was like, oh, do they get busy in a show? She was like, absolutely not. I was like, all right, well, I'll see if I like it. And I absolutely love that show. And then like, I guess my sleeper, and I guess we can open up to just like more discussion. For me, it's always gonna be one punch man. And I think that that one is kind of divisive when you say you like that. Either you have people that agree with you,
00:18:41
Speaker
People that wholeheartedly disagree with you don't like it or they like season one and they think season one was so excellently done that in comparison they don't like season two.
00:18:53
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I'm a person who actually really preferred Mob Psycho. And I actually didn't watch One Punch Man until I saw Mob Psycho. And I saw Mob Psycho first, then I went to One Punch Man and honestly did not like One Punch Man that much because of that. So I was expecting, I guess,
00:19:15
Speaker
something else or something different. And when it didn't get it, I would just found myself finding it to be a little dry. And I expected it not to feel like that. Because of all the positive reviews, I'd heard about reviews I've seen about One Punch Man. So I was surprised I didn't enjoy it quite as much. So I actually prefer the that authors, the manga cause other work a little better on that one. Absolutely. Yeah. So I mean, for me, I
00:19:43
Speaker
So I watched again, another recommendation by you, Mob Psycho. Shout out to you Alex, you're the real MVP. I love both seasons of Mob Psycho. I watched both seasons of Mob Psycho though after I watched both seasons of One Punch Man. So like for me it didn't, I agree like the writing is a lot different. And I mean, I just think that I think Mob in objectively speaking is just like,
00:20:09
Speaker
they do a lot better job of writing out. It's a more interesting story, honestly. I just think it's a more interesting story than One Punch Man. But the thing I like about One Punch Man is although the overall story might not be as thorough or as in captivating as Mob Psycho's, the individual character arcs are, for me at least, right? Like maybe not a Genos, maybe not a King, but Garo, like,
00:20:37
Speaker
love that guy. He's probably one of my all time favorite anime characters, and we only got a season of him. But I think of that. I think of Speedo Sonic with that, again, like going back to what I was saying before about me being highly competitive, whether with him risking his humanity because he can't beat Saitama. I think I like stuff like that. So
00:21:01
Speaker
But I do agree with you. I do like Mob, and Mob does get busy. Their fight scenes in there are kind of nuts, especially season two. Yeah, definitely. Definitely.
Exploring Sports and Non-Traditional Anime
00:21:16
Speaker
But Kawan, can you talk to us a little bit about sports anime? Because I know you do love some sports anime. I'm a volleyball player, so for me, I love that. But I haven't really watched any other ones. So can you talk to us about how you got into the sports anime?
00:21:33
Speaker
I mean, there's a, there's a, I mean, sport, I played sports. So the sports anime just, it was a natural progression at some point. Like, I mean, I was watching Dragon Ball Z and air gear and all kinds of other stuff. So it was eventually, I was going to slide over the sports once I found out that. Hey, shout out to air court, man. We need, we need that to be reprised. We do. We do. I missed it.
00:21:52
Speaker
I'm just going down memory lane thinking about the good old days. I had a little looped out of there for a minute. But I mean, there's a couple of good sports anime to watch. There's an old school one called Crossover. Curricose Basket is the updated version of Crossover, basically.
00:22:09
Speaker
But the animation and the artwork is more modern and better. But it just depends on what kind of sports you're looking for. I haven't come across a baseball one yet, but I've seen volleyball, anime, volleyball, football, basketball. And there's a race car one. I've seen the cover art, and I don't know that I like it, but I probably watch it. I forget what it's called, Street Race or D or something like that.
00:22:38
Speaker
But it's another good one that might be worth looking into. That's awesome. Alex, have you watched any other ones that you would recommend outside of your typical shonen? Or just ones that aren't based off fighting and stuff like that? You're saying anime in general? Yeah, anime in general. I would say, do you watch anime that's more in line with your line April or Promise Neverland?
00:23:03
Speaker
Um, so the one that comes to mind that I would say I'd watch outside of
00:23:11
Speaker
that I guess that typical genre I mean I've always and we're forever always love Inuyasha I think Inuyasha is so good I know that it's a targeted I'd say has a slightly younger audience than some of the others that we watch or that we discuss here but something about the I appreciate how fleshed out a lot of the characters are
00:23:35
Speaker
I admit, I admit, as I've gotten a bit older, the characters that some of the characters do feel kind of young to me, but that doesn't make them any less interesting. I definitely root for the different characters and the love. Of course, that one's a little bit more
00:23:52
Speaker
I'd say it's a little bit more driven by the love story lines and the character relationships and those undertones, a little more slice of life and monster of the week, I would say as far as the overall.
00:24:07
Speaker
Episode to episode but I appreciate how they're how the characters work together and grow and over time I just really love that show and always have a special place in my heart Another one I'd say it's a little bit outside of the the classic genre I mean it's I can't say that it's any less fighting but I mean I like the kind of honorable mentions of things like, you know avatar the last airbender or I really like samurai Jack
00:24:36
Speaker
I don't know if we can even count either of those here, but they've always been ones that are so exciting to watch.
Influence of Sailor Moon and Female Leads
00:24:44
Speaker
And I love how in Avatar, it was one of the few, I guess, cartoons, because you could say it was an anime, but not really. It was definitely more of a cartoon. I like how that one progressed from episode to episode, like week to week. You could see the characters change and grow over time. Each episode wasn't its own standalone, unique,
00:25:05
Speaker
kind of reintroduced from Back to Ground Zero, like Ed Ednetti or something. Yeah, I like Ed Ednetti. Plank is that. Yeah, I mean, I do too. I do too. I'm not gonna lie. But yeah, I don't know. I'd say those ones are the ones that stood out to me. I'm sure there are others that'll come to me. Oh, and of course, you gotta tell, you gotta throw out a special shout out to Sailor Moon. But I can't even, I loved Sailor Moon, but I'm not gonna lie, I can't even really watch it anymore. Something, it just,
00:25:36
Speaker
I don't know what happened. I just can't do it anymore. It's so pretty and cute. And I love the art of it. But the man those characters like low key aren't the greatest. The plot isn't that great. But man, it's so pretty. I like drawing them. That's hilarious. Oh, man. You know, love the fact that the main characters are females. I mean, I love a good strong female lead. But
00:26:04
Speaker
there aren't there is a lacking that's a little bit lacking currently to have a strong, well fleshed out, really well thought out female lead character in the in the in the show. So I liked that every pretty much even all the strongest bad guys and the strongest good guys in Sailor Moon were women. That's true. That's real. Yeah, I mean, for me, I think one of the
00:26:34
Speaker
I've never got into like food wars.
Psychological and Strategy-Based Anime
00:26:36
Speaker
I tried an episode, it just didn't work for me, but I'm gonna try again. I'm gonna give it another shot. I think I was tired that day. Maybe I was a little angry from work or something. But one day I did watch it, I was very surprised at it. Even though it was a little weird, a little bizarre, it was on Netflix. I'm probably gonna butcher the name, but it's a Calgary High. It's about compulsive gambling. It's like a high school.
00:27:03
Speaker
where it's a regular school but like throughout the day and even after school students gamble with each other and you can bet like crazy amounts like every almost everyone from that in that school their families from wealthy well-off families so if you are like if you
00:27:24
Speaker
have a negative debt, or not a negative debt, but like, if you have a debt that's super great, you become like another class of student, you know, they kind of treat you like crap. And then so it's like interesting in that way, because of the whole thought process of the people, it's kind of like parasites. So like in parasite where Mugi like realize it, like kind of explains, like from from an outsider's perspective, what is wrong with
00:27:53
Speaker
the human race or how humans interact with each other. It's kind of like that because you're following a transfer student who watches all these people gamble and she, by seeing how they cheat in each game that they gamble in, she decides to psychoanalyze them. And it's just kind of hurtful sometimes because you're like, oh wow, I'll be thinking that way sometimes. Oh my goodness, what does that say about me?
00:28:19
Speaker
So I kind of like the types of animes. On occasion, it's not like my go-to. I only watch it because I had just finished rewatching Code Geass, which is another one I really like. I think it's definitely, I always tell people it's literally Death Note without a Death Note. But we might have an episode in the future about that. Stay tuned. Oh man.
00:28:49
Speaker
But yeah, I was gonna say I'm surprised nobody did mention Death Note, really, because that one is classic and definitely more of a thinkers anime, but it's like it feels like chess. No, I like it. I mean, I think they're so for me, I loved it. I binged it in a day, honestly. Um,
00:29:09
Speaker
I mean, it's not that long. I think it's like 38 episodes or 39 episodes. The reason that for me personally, I don't have it in my my top five is I just didn't like the way it ended. Which is not a bad thing. I don't think the end was bad, right? I think the end is like, you know, how unsatisfying. Yeah, it's how the typical story goes. But like, I was really rooting for like, like I was really, which is like weird to write like he's a villain.
Principles in Anime Characters
00:29:40
Speaker
that you're rooting for the whole time, which is interesting too, because you might not even say he's a villain. If you watch it, I think he is a villain though. From my perspective, I usually don't root for the villains. I understand where they're coming from, and I appreciate that. I don't typically end up rooting for them. With certain exceptions in my hero academia, I was rooting for Stane the whole way through.
00:30:03
Speaker
That was what I was about to say is like the best ones, though, make you where when you really understand the bad guy and you completely get the antagonist and actually may even agree most of the time and want them to win or have their ideology prevail. Yeah. Gauru, I just, you know, Juan knows how I feel about this man. Even when he was fighting Silver Fig, I was just like, bruh, like this man had the flu.
00:30:29
Speaker
He lost masses amounts of blood. How can you not root for this guy holding his own? But yeah, no idea. And for me, it kind of goes back to what I was saying before, the like principal, highly principal person. So I really care about seeing those those attributes in my anime. Can you explain what you mean a little bit more about being principal? Do you just mean someone who completely has their morals and ethics and follows their code to a T without wavering?
00:30:58
Speaker
Yeah, so it's the people that follow their code to a T without wavering for me. Specifically because it's difficult, right? And like, even if you're terrible people. So like, all right, so that that's a, that's a bit of nuance to it, right? So if they're a terrible person, but, and this is not right, it's not right. This is just me. This is how I view it. Right. But if they're terrible version, but have a valid reason for being a terrible person,
00:31:29
Speaker
Then I have no, like if that code stemmed from the trauma that they had that made them into a terrible person, I have no problem with them following that code. So like Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist? Scar would be a perfect example, right? And like, that's kind of what I was alluding to earlier when I said like, that's the twist that throws like the whole show, at least for me, the twist that threw the whole show on its head. There's a bunch of twists in the show, but for me, that one,
00:31:58
Speaker
through the whole show because I saw that Homoculi the whole time, I think it was Envy, trick people the whole time. Not once did I think about how long the Homoculi had been alive. Or think about them possibly impacting Scar's thinking before we would even know. But because Scar, so I think Scar will be classified as a villain, mostly because he
00:32:27
Speaker
just kills people. He was killing people. Some people he didn't kill because he wanted to kill them. They just got in his way, but whatever. But that code that he had came from the effects of that war that he lived through. I have no problem with that.
00:32:47
Speaker
I'm not going to say, oh, yeah, it's okay to kill people. I'm never going to say that. But I do appreciate it. And I think for me, the reason I appreciate people seeing that visual depiction of someone sticking to their code is because it's so hard to do that in real life. In real life, we are constantly choosing to compromise something. I think every day we have to compromise something. So it's kind of cool to see what it would look like.
00:33:13
Speaker
It's the escapism that Kawan mentioned earlier. It's kind of cool to see what it would look like for you to not have to compromise how you feel, all right? Or seeing those instances when people do compromise, Vegeta and Goku, great example, right? Like Vegeta is constantly chasing Goku, but in a tournament of power, Vegeta realizes he ain't gonna be the one. Of course, yeah, he had to compromise and do the little dance and merge with him and form a Go-Duda.
00:33:42
Speaker
Right? And it's cool to see like, you know, it, for me, it was just cool to see. But yeah, that's, that's typically what I mean by, by principle, like following your, your code of ethics or your code, your moral code or whatever code, whatever you, however you classify your code, your personal code and kind of following to a T and seeing it out. So I think it's pretty cool. And I think one thing that makes it nice about anime is because it's, you know, it's an art form and it,
00:34:10
Speaker
in storytelling, they have the out of rewriting someone's code, but they usually don't. I think that's the other thing that kind of catches me with that.
00:34:22
Speaker
In real life, as you live and you experience different things, you're going to change your code constantly, or somewhat. You don't really see that in anime. Each character is pretty much the same character that they've been. They develop in different ways, but their core, at their core, using Goku is another example, or Naruto... Oh, Goku's probably a better example for this. At his core, no matter how old he gets,
00:34:47
Speaker
Goku is gonna throw a villain a Senzu Bean if somebody intervenes in their crime. Like he did in his last arc, bro. What the heck? Oh, Goku. Yeah. Good ol' trusty Goku. Always ready for a bonehead move.
00:35:10
Speaker
Geez, I was so disappointed in that last try. I'm not going to lie, that actually felt dumb to me because it risks, but to me, that was slightly paradoxical because it risks the other thing that he's always stood against. He's always been humanity's greatest warrior. And so when he put them the whole squad at risk,
00:35:29
Speaker
Like, not even I mean, he literally the planet he the planet that he's fought to protect. He jeopardized for this other principle he stands for, which is he gets a good old competition. It just felt like he betrayed one part of his belief system for the other. How are they know how are they? Yeah, it's like it's tough. It is tough. I like seeing it though. I mean, I need to read this. I need to read the most recent chapters. But yeah,
00:35:58
Speaker
That's the stuff I enjoy seeing and debating. Because that's not the first time Goku's done that. Goku's done it many a time. And sometimes they try to write it out. I think with the Tournament of Power, they tried to write it out as, oh, well, all the planets were going to get erased, including Earth, or all the universes, including Universe 7, if it weren't for Goku intervening.
00:36:23
Speaker
and starting the Tournament of Power. So like him starting the tournament saved all the universes. I was like, that's a BS cop out. But whatever, this man literally risked universes of lives. Yeah.
00:36:40
Speaker
I actually think that's kind of tying in what you Kwon were saying about just you enjoying the progression of things and just the fantasy elements of it and kind of what Emerson was saying about just what I love about anime though is that since it is such an art form.
Emotional Depth of Anime
00:37:05
Speaker
But what's cool about it is that you do have the option to, I feel like anime is cool because you can make it realistic, but also it does have the, you can't escape into it and through it because it's so, it can be, it's almost like it can stretch reality and capture these pure forms without any of the noise that go on in things.
00:37:25
Speaker
So it's really cool that you can make an explosion that you really wouldn't be able to show. I mean, I guess with modern technology, you can show a pretty grand explosion, but you can't explode the entire galaxy the way that you can in anime to just add to the layers of drama. Or yeah, you can be expressive when you're acting, but when you're doing anime, you can really be very expressive, like crazy, crazy expressive.
00:37:51
Speaker
I love that when you show a character's inner dialogue, yeah, you can do voiceovers in typical art forms, like in typical acting and movies. But in anime, you feel like you really can get to know these characters on such a deeper level than you can in other places.
00:38:10
Speaker
you can really get into the minds and thoughts and hearts of these characters. And I feel like that's why you fall so deeply in love with the people that you that you're with these characters because it is at the end of the day just just art or it's just a character. But I feel like in a lot of ways you learn them better than you do a typical series or a typical whatever.
00:38:33
Speaker
And I just think that that's also what's really unique and beautiful about this genre overall as an artwork, as an art form. Oh, that was beautiful, Alex. My goodness. You took me to church right there with the oil and the oil services. Gosh. Well, thank you. I try from time to time. Hey, look, you succeeded.
Podcast Conclusion
00:39:01
Speaker
But yeah, everyone.
00:39:03
Speaker
This is our first episode back. We back in here. And we just wanted to make sure you guys understood a little bit about us and our love for anime. And as you can see, it'll take us to church sometimes. But we'll be back next time, next week with another episode for you. But for now, we have a new outro for you. Enjoy.
00:39:38
Speaker
Ice in my veins, colder than freeze I'm protecting my own like cocoa and Vegeta This is my story, pain in the glory, taking it black all of my territory Black are the berry, the sweet and the cheap, stock are the flesh Deep as the roots of my life, sister, prove that I rock with melanin, just get you by, forget Laughing in the face of danger, flexing my guns and the eye of defeat I am the voice of the night, of all of my people, unleashing the power in me Deep in my genes, this is my destiny, this is my legacy Won't get the best of me
00:40:12
Speaker
And I don't like Okage, my brother, can you pass me the wasabi? Nigga, I'm black as fuck and proud of it, I won't be modest, no Ain't no blockin' me, I overcome every obstacle Like the rose out of the concrete, I accomplish the impossible Like Barack and Bakugo, yeah, I'm unstoppable Still I rise from the ashes, mama told me never settle And if I can handle all that I got down, I'm made for metal
00:40:31
Speaker
Make you disappear like Mr. Compress
00:40:46
Speaker
Black as my skin, power within Melaninjas Black as my skin, power within