anime Gosplan14_the_Third • 1w ago • 97%

Reasonable People's First Contact With Weeb "Culture"

The anime is Genshiken (2004), I picked it up on a whim. It's alright so far. Very "by weebs, for weebs". The manga is from 2002. The 80s and 90s being a pass of the baton from veterans of the early days to more modern staff, which already grew up with anime, and the success of Evangelion and merchandising had some awful long-term consequences even if it was probably unavoidable under capitalism.

chapotraphouse Gosplan14_the_Third • 1w ago • 100%

What's there to see in the Northeastern US?

I was toying with the idea of visiting the US either next year or 2026, and not only is the northeast the cheapest destination to fly to, but to my limited knowledge offers the most things to see. (unless you can persuade me in favor of, idk, the midwest, the south, whatever) What I was thinking of visiting: The Empire's HQ (D.C.) - obvious choice. Imperial architecture, containing probably one of the most famous museum complexes in the world. Annapolis, Maryland - looks like a quaint seaside town (or maybe Baltimore, MD, with its antique ships in the harbor. Though I hear it's a bit rough) Harper's Ferry, West Virginia - John Brown! Plus, it's in West Virginia - an excuse to cross one more border. Philadelphia and Boston have old colonizer architecture and legacy stuff... but to my understanding, basically nothing is left. No idea if there's anything on indigenous culture in that part of the country. New York City - One of *the* cities, for good or ill. I'm definitely also going to New Haven, CT. I have no idea what's there, but I have something to prove to a comrade (or get owned)  Also I'll probably have around a week, and I should have my license by then, so was thinking of renting a car. Seemingly, the car brain is strong enough that rental fees are surprisingly low.

anime Gosplan14_the_Third • 3w ago • 100%

What have you been reading/watching recently? [Anime - October 2024]

I now have a full time job *plus* a long commute, which means... more time for reading manga while half-asleep? Huh? Anyway the last thread of this kind was in July, and since then an anime season has finished, so might as well do it again. **For me:** **Manga:** **Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (2005):** Parallel to watching the excellent adaptation, I have picked up the manga and, much like Kaiji, finished it in a concerningly short time. Koji Kumeta has a bone to pick with the world... with *everything* in the world. What arises is a very entertaining ruthless critique. I'm fairly sure he's either still a leftist, or used to be one and got disappointed. However, he is also nationalistic. A political mess, mostly agreeable, sometimes dropping horrible takes - but a fantastic manga which never loses its bite no matter how many chapters you are into it. It's also less horny than the Shaft adaptation. **A+** **√Paradise (1991):** Being curious about Kumeta's early work, I read this short manga of his, which is basically the Yakuza games' cabaret club side-plot in manga form. Not too interesting, but a decent enough read. **B-** **Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san (2017):** Nagatoro is a decent romance manga with a pretty bad beginning. It ended a few months ago, but I have caught up only recently. Not much else to say, really. **B** **Shiroyama to Mita-san (2021):** Nice comedic romance/slice of life manga about two (mostly) uncool people. Fun, but have not finished it yet. **B+** **Anime:** **Aa-Megami Sama (2005):** I had read a large chunk of the manga before, and it's just as fun as I remembered it being. The romance stuff isn't too strong, but the hijinks are fun. The source material being from the 80s means that many of the usual tropes didn't exist yet... or were being invented. **A-** **Fullmetal Alchemist (2003):** Almost done with this show, it's been really good overall. Strong characters and storytelling, and the anime original plot... I can clearly see why it's controversial, but I like it. Good show. **A** **Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! (2024):** The only seasonal I didn't drop. Story-wise very conventional, but the character writing was good. Anna Yanami in particular, being one of the strongest female leads in recent anime history. It had a few tone-unfitting scenes that felt tacked on for the horny audience, but overall decent show. **B** **Western Animation** **The Owl House (2020):** Very fun show, with some blatant inspiration from many recognizable source materials, western and Japanese. King is a king. **A**

music Gosplan14_the_Third • 3w ago • 100%

BEYOND BORDER - New Start [Futurepop; Germany, 2023]

I saw them live yesterday as a support act for a concert I went to. Good music, and the vocalist was a pretty nice guy.

anime Gosplan14_the_Third • 3mo ago • 100%

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

(Season 2, Episode 12)

anime Gosplan14_the_Third • 3mo ago • 100%

What have you been reading/watching recently? [Anime - July 2024]

The last post of this kind was two months ago, so it was time for a refresher of the de-facto recommendation thread of the weeb channel of Hexbear. Personally, work has greatly diminished my free time and makes me tired all the time, but there's still something to squeeze in. **For me:** **Manga:** **Oresama Teacher (2007-2020, 176 Chapters)** - I have already praised this series last time around and am still reading it. Much like in Nozaki-Kun, where this manga really shines are the characters. Kurosaki Mafuyu might be one of my all-time favorite characters in manga. Someone who is an utter fool, but written in a realistic and endearing way, in spite of the ridiculous plot. **A+** **Anime:** **Dragon Ball (1986-1989, 153 Episodes)** - Dragon Ball is a show that rightfully deserves its reputation, as it is extremely solid once it figures itself out. Gone is the horniness of early episodes, the show reached a very high peak in the Piccolo Daimao arc and has kept it up ever since. I am like 10 episodes away from finishing it, but there is one worry. The power scaling, well... it's not exactly balanced. It makes early arcs feel puny in comparison. Also give us Pilaf back smh. **A** **Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei Season 2 (2008, 13 Episodes)** - This show continues with its ruthless social criticism (both good and fascinatingly bad) from Season 1, but it goes hard in an abstract direction that is masterfully adapted by Shaft's arthouse-like style. It is also unfortunately pretty horny, like many other Shaft anime... and very entertaining. **A+** **Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju (2017, 12 Episodes)** - This show really is as good as the ratings suggest. It's very un-anime in the sense that it is a serious drama with character-driven storytelling and almost 0 of the usual tropes of the medium. The characters are so good that you WILL get hooked if you watch enough. **A+** **Fullmetal Alchemist (2003, 51 Episodes)** - Now solidly into anime original territory, I have to say this is a really good show, even though the main villains' plans have to fully unravel yet. The atmosphere is on point, and the older early-digital color palette makes it look better than FMAB imo. I will have to check out the manga after finishing the show, since I am curious how the story is there - I dropped FMAB early on, since it didn't hook me at first but '03 did the trick. **A** **Re:Creators (2017, 22 Episodes)** - I started this today thanks to the Mother's Basement video on his favorite Isekai, and I have to say that even if the story ends up really bland, the premise alone is enough to make this show interesting. I think it could have worked better with only one character, but oh well. **Too early to tell, but B+** I need to get back to **Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction** (2024), since I watched a couple of episodes and was intrigued, but then didn't find the time to watch more. ...and get back to **reading Capital**, of course.

music Gosplan14_the_Third • 3mo ago • 85%

Escape with Romeo - Somebody (West Germany; 1989/2022, Gothic Rock)

I saw them live on Friday at the Eastside Festival in Halle. They sound better live, and left the backstage after their set to mingle with the other festivalgoers and see the other bands perform - quite endearing.

europe Gosplan14_the_Third • 4mo ago • 92%

I have 300 times more empathy for the average Ukrainian nationalist than their European cheerleaders

Being duped into hating your fellow in the proletariat and seeing killing them to "protect *your* nation" is very easy to do in times of war, and people there, from the communists-in-hiding to the Nazi bozos Sieg-heiling on the frontlines get to experience the horrors of war. Many can't deal with it and go abroad to a safer haven. Here, you have not just thousands - millions of Bozos for whom you are also merely an instrument for advancing that state's interests. Be it working at shit jobs for shit-euro-pay or getting sent back to die in a WW1-Style-trench. Who hate you if you are too much of a loser to fulfill their ever rising demands, who hate you if you dare existing too obviously. The Europeans eagerly march into the same hatred as above, millions supporting the military, Sabre-rattling, even open warfare! All to show strength, even if it causes WW3! Willing to FUCKING DIE for the nation, for its interests, economic and/or political, to own the evil barbarians (the same is highly likely to be said in Russia) Proletarian Internationalism? But have you considered everyone but ~~me~~ us (and they say humans are selfish by nature) is morally evil! And anger against all this doesn't seem to be going anywhere, just into people who are considered better managers of nationalism - the fash.

anime Gosplan14_the_Third • 4mo ago • 100%

Any worthwhile Anime-Youtubers around?

I was boredly looking around YouTube on this Sunday morning and in the mood to watch some bozo talk about anime, maybe get some insights, discover some obscure hidden gem and the like. However, I found it surprisingly hard to find quality in that scene, beyond niche video-makers like Kenny Lauerdale. Thus I was wondering if you have any recommendations of some people you like making videos about anime.

anime Gosplan14_the_Third • 5mo ago • 100%

What have you been reading/watching recently? [Anime - May 2024]

I am unfortunately employed now, so my free time has been devoured by the job, commute and preparation. However, I have still managed to keep up with a few shows and manga - at a slow pace. So how about you? For me: **Manga:** **Oresama Teacher (2007-2020, 176 Chapters)** - The only manga I'm reading at the moment is a work by Tsubaki Izumi of Gekkan-Shoujo Nozaki-kun. It is a story of a former delinquent Mafuyu Kurosaki becoming a transfer student and trying to turn her life around. Like a wild mixture of Angel Densetsu and Nozaki-kun, it is indeed a hilarious manga with surprisingly in-depth characters, but instead of the 4-koma format of the latter, it has shoujo manga length chapters. ***(so far) A+** **Anime:** **Dragon Ball (1986-1989, 153 Episodes)** - Dragon Ball is a VERY competent Shounen, and one that steadily gets better and drops the immaturity and much of the horniness of the early part of the show. However, around the 100th episode things start changing. The show becomes... interesting. Definitely recommend sticking around to see the show grow. **A** **Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei, Season 1 (2007, 12 Episodes)** - This show apparently was a darling of weebs a decade ago, and it is not hard to see why. Edgyness, egregious fanservice, a cynical attitude towards society so typical of the 90s and apparently the 2000s too. The show provides critique that can sometimes hit at the core of the problem (including anticapitalist critique), and at the same time mock people who seek to do something about it. It's hit and miss, but undeniably interesting. The unique artstyle, the music, the Maeda cameos are bonuses. **A** **Lupin III: Part II (1977-1981, 155 Episodes)** - Hit and miss episode quality, but always entertaining. Sometimes really weird (but apparently 80s Lupin/Part III is most like that), but those tend to be the most fun episodes. Definitely a fantastic show to relax after a stressful day, and there's a lot of episodes. **A-** **Lost Universe (1998, 26 Episodes)** - Fun characters, but the sci-fi spin-off to Slayers is nowhere near as fun as that series. It's decent though. **B-** **Konosuba Season 3 (Ongoing seasonal, 11 Episodes)** - It's more of Konosuba. Juvenile and horny humor, surprisingly decent character writing in spite of the weeb-brained overall writing and a better isekai than the much of the genre it satirises? Yeah, it's all still here. And not much more, but if you like the rest... **B** **Too early to tell** - **Fullmetal Alchemist 2003** (Very good so far. I like the atmosphere more than FMAB's and find myself enjoying it more than when I tried to watch that) - **Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu** (very much anti-weeb brained + unique setting and premise = good, but can't tell more until I've seen the rest) --------- **Tired of libs? Want to debunk common arguments as early as in the first chapter?** Read **Das Kapital** by Karl Marx. Not as hard as its reputation suggests.

anime Gosplan14_the_Third • 6mo ago • 100%

[Recommendation] Girls' Monthly Nozaki Kun but delinquents

Read Oresama-Teacher. It's by the same author and basically a deranged mix between GSNK and... Angel Densetsu? Yup, an actually funny delinquent comedy. Featuring basically a less malicious Seo Yuzuki and evil Umetaro Nozaki expies. Instead of a 4-Koma, the Manga features Shojo manga standard ~50 page chapters and it's completed too. Maybe there's a big cringe moment in it, but even though I am far from finishing it, I wanna recommend it. That's all.

anime Gosplan14_the_Third • 7mo ago • 100%

The woes of good anime and seasonals

Tfw you get into an anime with only one or maybe two seasons The story is incomplete. The last season was a decade ago or more, a new season has become a running joke among people who like it too. The manga is there, but it's unfinished and progresses at a glacial pace. I'm talking of course about Kaiji, but the show from the picture is also a victim (Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun). Something like Interviews with Monster Girls at least has the manga be complete, even if you can read the last volume only in Spanish if you don't speak Japanese. Alas, big booba waifu shows with the level 99 elves, a wish fulfillment loser to gigachad main character will be more profitable, helping self-reinforce the unsavory parts of weeb culture. :)