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Merry Christmas! God Jul! メリークリスマス！

Happy Birthday!

I don't know if you're still in Japan or not, but if you are, have a sake on me! Kanpai ;)

Soz for the delay. Sometimes I like to take a break from replies coz I just don't have the motivation to tackle them. I'll usually come back fully charged and inspired though.

I know what you mean. When I took a break from doing push-ups for a few years (I could do 30 in succession at one point) I completely crumpled after only doing like 9 and felt completely knackered by it. I understand with the relocation and new job you have other priorities at the moment other than anime. I wonder if you'll ever get back into it like you once did. You sound like you've been unimpressed with a lot of the new anime and seasonals in the past 2 years.

I'm trying to think up some other funny phrases like that. People who jump in the shallow end and use a swimming float. People who wear swimming goggles while having a regular shower. People who hide their c*cks while showering. Hahaha. Feel free to use any of the aforementioned yourself when dissing someone. Let it be my gift to you ;)

I'm alright. I've settled down to a stable and steady routine and I've grown accustomed to the quiet life. I spent the New Year holiday period recovering from a flu-type virus (or something like that) so it was rather uneventful and underwhelming. Just the end of another year. Marking out time until we all gotta die. I was preoccupied with something else and didn't even notice when it went past midnight. Tbh I've never gone wild or gotten too carried away, not even when I was younger and more energetic.

I wouldn't say I was a hardcore Vinlander but it is in my top 20 series. The new one with MAPPA at the helm (replacing WIT) has started well. It looks like it'll be adventures on the farm for the foreseeable future lol.

So many Bleach episodes (to catch up on) might be an insurmountable barrier, you say. You sound like you're speaking from personal experience/frustration.

It sounds like you're bonding with at least some of your students - and about anime as well. That must be really nice. Blue Lock? I've read that's something that's been put together for fangirls to get hot and steamy about. My fave recent releases have been the new Overlord (season 4), To Your Eternity season 2 (currently airing), and I'm 2 episodes into Bocchi the Rock, which seems really promising. Also, the last few Bleach episodes (8 and 9) have exuded the charm and humor that first drew me into the franchise.

Maybe your fave students will twist your arm with the new Vinland Saga but I doubt you'll ever change your mind about it. I sense there's something firm and deep-rooted that you have against it. I'm not 100% sure but I think I remember you alluding to people who jump in the swimming pool while holding their noses as well. Haha.

The societal pressures of having to conform with Tsukasa's ideology. Yeah, there could be no greater pressure than that. Haha.

I understand some of what you're saying but with anti-society, I meant 'anti-society' in reference to modern capitalist 'western' societies like Britain, the US, and Japan. Tsukasa is renouncing them in favor of a primitive communal way of living, with an emphasis on personal freedom from ownership and having to pay rent or taxes.

I'm not sure about Marx's direct association with communalism but this is something clearly akin to the type of community Tsukasa is constructing. The definition of communalism being:

'The principle or practice of living together and sharing possessions and responsibilities.'

As for Marxist, well, I understand what you mean by Tsukasa's ideas not fitting 100% - like about being negative about science and technology, and also that Marxism is a historical development, but there are certainly lots of similarities with a broad and general definition of communism. To quote Wikipedia: ''Communism (from Latin communis, 'common, universal') is a far-left philosophical, social, political, and economic ideology and movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, namely a socioeconomic order structured upon the ideas of common or social ownership of all property, including the means of production, and can involve the absence of social classes, money, and the state. Communism is a specific, yet distinct, form of socialism. Communists often seek a voluntary state of self-governance.''

OK, perhaps I should have said (when talking about the show) 'Tsukasa, expounding a philosophy/ideology with similarities to a communal communism.' Also, really do try to find the time (20 mins) to look at that video. The creator makes some interesting comparisons between Tsukasa's ideas/goals and JJ Rousseau and refers to Marx and communism: https://youtu.be/Jv6bS0ASZps

As for Nietzsche, he talks about freedom as independence from societal pressures and some sort of self-rule or individual sovereignty. To quote from The Twilight of the Idols: ''Freedom is the will to be responsible for ourselves. It is to preserve the distance which separates us from other men. To grow more indifferent to hardship, to severity, to privation, and even to life itself.''

I can't help but see some striking parallels between this Tsukasa's ideology and the way of life he expounds. He definitely wants an end to societal pressures and his way of life and that of his community certainly fits together with the idea of being indifferent to hardship, severity, and privation.

Of course, Tsukasa doesn't expressly state that he is a Marxist or Nietzschean or refer to any of their works by name, but I think what Tsukasa is expounding is far more radical and communal than Boris Johnson talking about socialized medicine. He's basically anti-ownership and against the capitalist system/hierarchy. Have a look at the video I sent. To quote Tsukasa himself word for word: ''They'll be grateful to you at first but as soon as civilization returns the rich and powerful seniors will say: 'That used to be my land.' 'Pay your rent.' Pay your taxes.' They'll rob the poor youth of their future again. We must not bring that world back. We'll revive only the pure-hearted youth and live in a natural world owned by no one.''

In no way does Boris Johnson ever go as far as saying that people shouldn't pay rent and taxes anymore, or that he wants to live in a natural world owned by no one. I think you've downplayed the radicalism of Tsukasa's communal philosophy and there are more than just a 'couple of small shared elements' with Marxism. I think you'll find the video interesting in light of what we're talking about.

Well, it seems like Tsukasa is expounding a philosophy/ideology of non-capitalism, non-ownership, and communalism. To quote him: "This stone world... is a paradise not yet to be tamed! Let's just revive the innocent, young people. We'll live together in nature, which doesn't belong to someone else. This is an opportunity to cleanse humanity!"

Also, in the anime, we hear him (and see him) tell the story of when he was younger and collecting shells to make a necklace for his sick sister and someone says to him (or words very similar): 'That's my land'. 'Those are my shells.' And beats him up badly. He then remonstrates how it seems unfair that one is born into the world seemingly free, only to find out that someone already owns every single thing, and benefits/profits from it at the expense of others. To quote from the fandom.wiki: ''After his life was saved by Senku by de-petrifying him from his cryogenic state, Tsukasa joins the Kingdom of Science and embarks with them on their trip to the United States, channeling his ideals differently - yet still striving for a morally pure world without exploitation of the innocent.'' Also (about Tsukasa), ''He tends to hate humans who control and manipulate others. By his actions, it is possible to assume that Tsukasa hates any hierarchy or practice of power.''

Have a look at this:

Sometimes things go the same way for me. 86 kinda peaked after episode 7 and then likewise, cratered lol. Although with Bleach, I'm not sure if you ever reached the point that most people consider to be its peak. It just so happens to be episode 314. You should've hung on. You should've weathered the storm(s)! Lol. Each of the component parts of 86 (the series) was really solid and it's by no means a bad show, but...it just didn't have the loveability factor. Or the wow factor. The female lead dropped out for most of the second half and the main guy Shin was OK but didn't totally engage my emotions. On the whole, the supporting cast failed to distinguish themselves or captivate one's interest. It was still an alright watch though. There are some people who go gaga over it with their praise, love, and admiration, but for me, it'll never match up to AOT, for a wartime set action/melodrama.

Dress-Up Darling definitely gets better though. That is one I'd recommend seeing through to the end. It's only 12 episodes so it's not too much to commit to. It was primarily guilty pleasure territory for me personally, but it made me laugh. As I think I've already said - it provided quite a nice insight into Japanese cosplay and otaku culture, and the 'magical girls' genre parody was on the nose.

To repeat what I said a year and a half ago: I'm glad you had fun with Dr. Stone. I thought it was thoroughly entertaining and captivating myself, and Senkuu was incredibly charismatic and came across as a really cool and magnanimous guy. The supporting characters were original and interesting too, like Asagiri 'The Mentalist', Chrome 'The Village Sorcerer', the old, incredibly buff crafting guy, Tsukasa and his Marxist/Nietzschean ideological empire of freedom, purity, strength, and equality...and of course, the kid with the watermelon on their head was the icing on the cake! I thought Kohaku was a good lead heroine as well, and it was nice to see a female character as the strongest/best fighter/gorilla lol. It's just my opinion, but I'd say that Senkuu was perhaps the most intelligent protagonist that I've ever come across in an anime, and creating a cellular phone from scratch in the Stone Age after completing like 20 separate individual scientific processes was astonishing. Much like you, I thought it was a decent, fun, series the first time around, but it really came alive in the rewatch, for some reason. Maybe I've changed as a person during the last year, or the experience is different when you can watch a couple of episodes per day, as opposed to waiting for one new installment each week.

Ah, I think I know what you might be referring to - with your pessimistic outlook on world affairs. There's been something very big dominating the world news the last few months - nudge, nudge, wink, wink. If you're interested in another post-apocalyptic scenario anime, then 7 Seeds is really good. Although it might not be to everyone's taste (gauging the general MAL consensus) but the reviews for the second season are pretty good - mainly 9's. Once again, a Netflix anime greatly exceeded my expectations!

It's good to hear from you again! I had figured you might have become bored with anime and just drifted away or onto something new because one of the last times we spoke you were telling me how you were in the midst of an existential anime crisis. Or something akin to that. I hope it's not my fault for recommending Bleach to you lol.

I just completed the latest installment of AOT last week - after rewatching every single episode preceding it (even the OVAs) and was completely blown away by it. I don't think it would have had the same impact had I not rewatched everything and had just dived straight in. It was nice to re-establish a close bond with the core characters (people like Mikasa, Armin, Eren, Jean, Sasha, Reiner, Erwin, Levi, and Hange) and understand every detail of its history, politics, geography, and timeline. It was relatively complex stuff! Seeing how it all began, when they were just little kids running around in their hometown and discussing their dreams, and then within 2 weeks (how long it took me) seeing them again as world-weary emotionally hardened young adults in a dire predicament of colossal magnitude and basically carrying the weight/future of the whole world on their shoulders was really astonishing. What did you make of it? How do you think MAPPA did? I think MAPPA did an excellent job that was pretty much equal overall (albeit different) to what WIT studio did with Season 3 (parts 1 and 2). I don't think the quality in any way dipped from the pinnacle that was set by Season 3 part 2. The OST was consistently marvelous, as well. I think Yamamoto did really well. It wasn't simply a case of MAPPA 'cheaping out' like I've heard some people say, or joke about.

Regarding new seasonal stuff, I don't know if you've finished My Dress-Up Darling yet, but that was a worthwhile and entertaining watch. It definitely has a guilty pleasure vibe about it (for me anyway), and it was nice to have an insight into some of the cosplay and otaku culture over there. There were also some really funny parodies - like one of the Mahou Shojou (magical girl) genre. I think the two leads made a nice couple and all the Hina doll stuff was something new for me.

I've progressed onto 86 Season 2 and it's been pretty good. It has a different setting than the first part but the high production values and epic OST and sublime visuals are still there. It kinda has an AOT vibe about it and is definitely one that tugs at the heartstrings. There's enough intelligence in it to satisfy an adult's mind I'd think.

I'm 3 episodes into Spy x Family and it's been fun and easy to get into. It seems quite light and quick-paced but I expect the story to expand and get deeper as it goes on. The 3 main characters are pretty good.

I wasn't so keen on Vivy though, even though some people are/were raving about it. It just didn't click with me and I don't think I got into the episodic structure of it. I prefer the way that Ghost in the Shell looks at artificial intelligence and cyborgs. Speaking of which, GITS 2045 Season 2 is due later this month. It's not too late to climb aboard the train!

I did get around to seeing Oddtaxi, finally! It was definitely a breath of fresh air and was quite different from anything else I've seen before. The mystery was certainly compelling (I finished it in a couple of days) and the twist at the end was completely unforeseen. It did a lot within 12 episodes and was well structured and crafted. The dialogue was fresh and witty and isn't something I'd heard before. I think my fave episode was the one with the long monologue by the guy who ordered that expensive eraser (or rubber as we called them in our school) and was trying to unlock the dodo in that online gatch-style game. That episode was just genius. The monologue writing and voice performance (in English) were the absolute pinnacles. Oh, the lo-fi funky/hip-hop soundtrack was pretty cool, as well!

Are you alright? Are you still watching anime? The recent seasons haven't been that bad.

I haven't heard from you in a long time and I see that you've not logged in since January. I hope you're OK :)