(NOTE: Written on 7/7/2017)
Ayy what’s up ya! Since I’m about do some light partying tonight at Anime Midwest, I’m going to leave you guys with a quick, simple, but emotional ending to an anime series – Dragon Ball GT’s ending montage.
The ending montage showcase the series iconic and memorable events from the entire Dragon Ball series prior to Super. The montage starts with Goku’s first encounter with the teen genius, Bulma. This marks the start of Goku’s grand (animated) adventure ehich would span for over 10 years. Next, we see his training with the legendary martial arts master, Muten Rosh, his epic battle against the Demon King Piccolo and defeating his son, Piccolo Junior.
The montage transitions into the moments of Dragon Ball Z with Goku supporting Gohan against Cell with the Father-Son Kamehameha, him destroying Kid Buu with the Spirit Bomb, his rivalry with Vegeta, and of course – the debut of his legendary Super Saiyan transformation, and using the form to defeat Lord Frieza.
Finally, scenes of GT are featured such as the death of Baby and the battle against Omega Sheron. The montage also features a credit scroll of everyone who’ve worked the series production – from voice actors, animation staff, writers, etc., thanking them for their hard work and effort they put towards the series.
The montage is set to GT’s Japanese theme song “Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku (lit. “Bit by Bit My Heart Is Charmed. Despite being a love ballad, the nostalgic and emotional tone of the lyrics and music fits it. We were charmed the story of Goku – an innocent, small, yet powerful child of everlasting superhuman strength and feats who grew up into a paragon of raw power and fighting; combating against terrifying foes and villains such as the Red Ribbion Army, King Piccolo, Mercenary Tao Pai Pai, Vegeta, Frieza, Cell, Baby, and the Shadow Dragons.
To this day, fan opinions of Dragon Ball GT are split. Some fans love the cool ideas presented, the Super Saiyan 4 transformation, bringing back classic characters and powers. Others despise it. However, most, if not all Dragon Ball fans agree that GT’s ending montage was a perfect moving sendoff for Dragon Ball. Fans have even cried while watching the Montage and I can’t even lie, I found myself teary eye as well. We believed that tribute and ending would be the last time we saw Goku and company in animation form.
Dragon Ball had that much of an impact on its fans.
‘And if I die, let it be
But when it come for me, Bury me a G’
-Tupac – Bury Me A G
Yusuke Urameshi lived and died like a G. He committed the most selfless act that anyone human could done – sacrificing his life to save a child, a truly gangsta act indeed. Even his Principal, Takanaka (who didn’t have the best history with Yusuke), was surprise and moved by his late student’s out-of-character action. Yusuke (who was watching his own wake in spirit form) himself was equally surprised by Takanaka respect.
At that moment of realization (from seeing his friend Keiko, rival Kurabawa, and his mother grieving his death) Yusuke discovered that people gave a damn about him – despite believing otherwise. People whom he assumed were happy at his death were reacting on the contrary.
What make Yusuke’s Wake sorrowful are the raw emotions felt by people he touched and encountered in his life. Yes, Yusuke was a street punk. Yes, Yusuke gave people isssues. However, at the end of the day, Yusuke, and his presence, made an impact on their lives.
“Yusuke….Yusuke…No! Yusukeeeee!”
A friend’s grief.
“Who am I gonna fight now? You’re supposed to be here…for me.”
A rival’s pain.
“Yusuke I don’t know why I don’t feel like speaking well of you. Why didn’t you stay? You could had made something out of your life!”
A hardass principal’s respect.
“Mommy, do you think it’ll be okay if I play with that boy tomorrow? I don’t know why those people were crying like that, it was probably because they wanted to play with him too.”
A child’s innocence.
Each one’s grief. The pain of loss. This is what makes Yusuke’s Wake the most saddest scene in anime for me.
Thanks for reading ya’ll! I’m currently in Chicago, IL (in the Rosemont area )for the anime convention Anime Midwest. If you see me feel free to tell me how much my work has impacted your life. My ego needs feeding.
I don’t really pay attention to voice actors to the point where I can say something like “Yea! That person is my favorite V.A. for all time!”. As much of a trashy weeaboo that I am, I’m not really too hip on the world voice actors. I simply don’t invest the time to study and research them. Regardless, I must go forth with this challenge. I’ll just bullshit and write about one voice actress I do like. I figure the fact that I wrote about the amazing “God Knows…” scene from the Haruhi Suzumiya anime, I might as well keep the Haruhi train going by talking about Aya Hirano. And of course, her infamous scandal – because why not?
It’s funny to talk about how mad people were at her for enjoying umm…physical pleasures.
Meta.
High-key, Hirano was my first and only celebrity crush. Or voice actress crush. Whatever. She’s cute as all hell. Who doesn’t like cute women? Outside her looks, I love her performance as Haruhi Suzmiya – it was fun listening to her as this energetic, ambitious teenager who believed herself as the most superior being in the universe. She also did very well in her role as otaku Konata Izumi from Lucky Star. I prefer the Japanese sub of both series over the English dubs just because of Hirano’s performances as both characters.
While this is still fresh in my mind, I gotta talk about her sex scandal (I really wish I was drunk for this one to go all in. Alas, I must save my alcohol for the upcoming weekend).
To this day, I still chuckle about how her overly sensitive fans were so butthurt about the 2011 incident. Like, why the fuck did these nerds got all in their feelings just because she allowed herself to be filmed fucking her bandmates (expect for the bassist, poor dude)? Niggas were forreal destroying all types of Hirano DVDs and CDs out of rage. Hell, folks were even destroying their Haruhi and Konata figurines, burning any Haruhi mangas and light novels, and was boycotting her shit – all because she had sex unlike those sad, pathetic permavirgins otaku.
And lets be real: All these dudes who were calling her a slut, whore, bitch or whatever sexist bullshit they were saying about her were the same dudes who probably wanted to smash her.
It wasn’t that serious.Really, it wasn’t. This is a waste of money.
2011 was a wild time in the anime community.
With that said I hope you enjoyed this quick little post. The next topics of the 30 day anime challenges may be coming out a little slower than normal for I will be in Chicago from Thursday-Sunday for Anime Midwest! If you see me don’t be scared to say “hi” to me and tell me how much you enjoy my works. My ego needs to be fed by the minute!
‘Know who you are dealing with – do NOT offend the wrong person.’ -Law 19 of the 48 Laws of Power
I’m going to say this: Don’t fuck with people. Don’t offend people. Don’t underestimate people. If someone tells you to leave them alone, do it. Don’t assume everyone will react to your actions in the same way or won’t do anything. It’ll cost you more than what it is worth and in some cases – your life. Perfect Cell of Dragon Ball Z and Ritsuko of Higurashi: When They Cry, learned the incredibly barbaric way that underestimating and offending “weak” people isn’t worth it. They believed their targets couldn’t do any harm to them, thus thinking they’ll be okay.
How wrong they were.
Son Gohan Vs. Cell
‘At last, has Gohan’s rage exceeded it limits?’
-Narrator
I can’t fault Perfect Cell for his pride and overconfidence. When your genetic makeup has the features of the prideful Vegeta and the ambition Lord Frieza, you’d be on some arrogant shit too. Ever since birth, Cell was told that he is become perfect. He’s like the child whose mother told him that he can become whatever he dreams of if he put in the work. Well, Cell put in the work to become the perfect warrior. He hunted down Androids 17 and 18, absorbed them both, and achieved his boyhood dreams.
He became perfect!
Dr. Gero would be so proud of his favorite son.
So, fast-forward to the Cell Games. Goku has just forfeited to Cell after an intense and destructive match. Goku tells the bio-android that he’s no match for him. Hell, he and Cell both knew that he couldn’t defeat him. Dude just wanted to fight someone strong. Goku assured Cell that there was somebody stronger than him. Someone who could provide Cell with more entertainment that he could provide.
That someone – Son Gohan: Son of Goku.
Cell is introduced to the peaceful, young, but powerful kid by Goku. When Cell directs his attention to the rice child he just scoffs and laugh; believing that Gohan couldn’t possibly this super powerful warrior his father hyped him up to be. Nevertheless, he entertains the thought of fighting Gohan.
After some prep talk from his pops, Gohan steps up to Cell with delay. The kid really does not want to fight the monster and attempts to talk the dude out of it with reason. Gohan tells Cell that he won’t pursue him if he just cancels the tournament and leave earth. Cell just laugh as if Gohan channeled his inner George Carlin and told a humorous and politically incorrect joke. Being the naive that he is, Gohan again tells Cell he doesn’t want to fight – he sees no joy in it unlike his father.
In fact, he even gives dude a warning of his hidden power – a power induced by rage. Gohan is quite scary when he’s angry.
Cell ain’t hearing none of Gohan’s shit and proceeds to beat him like if Gohan was cosplaying as Tina Turner, and Cell as Ike Turner, and they wanna really get into their character roles(Cell was just missing the shoe). Cell starts taunting Gohan, begging the child to unleash his inner rage and special power that he was braggin’ about! The man wants a challenge, not a living punching bag. Assuming Gohan may had just been all talk, Cell turns his action towards Gohan’s friends and father.
Cell figures if he harms Gohan’s love ones, he could draw out his hidden power. So Cell reproduces himself, creating seven “Cell Jrs.”. Cell orders his seven mini-mes to attack Goku and his crew. The Z Warriors go on the defense, but the brats are too much. They’re are quickly overpowered and savagely beaten. Cell starts taunting Gohan once more, demanding that he sees his hidden power, or he’ll have the Z Warriors slaughtered.
As a last ditch effort, Android 16 (who survived a failed suicide bombing attempt against Cell) begs Mr. Satan to throw his head towards Gohan. Android 16 was inspired to become a motivation speaker, decided to use his newfound passion to tell Gohan to stop being a little bitch, and unleash his power against Cell. 16 knew that Gohan is a gentle person like himself and understand Gohan’s feelings of peaceful resolve. However, 16 tells the kid that there’s nothing wrong with using his rage for justice and protecting others. As 16 begs Gohan to protect the nature and animals he came to love in his short life, Cell walks over to the android, talk some bullshit, and crush his head, killing him.
Gohan blanks out. He’s in a trance. This goes on for a few seconds until he release all of his inner rage, hidden power, and finally – Super Saiyan 2. The same Cell who was taunting and underestimating Gohan earlier is now fearing for his life. He realize that he just made a fatal mistake with his offense.
Cell fucked up.
Gohan charges at Cell with great anger and pure ruthlessness. Cell tries to fight back, but to no anvil. Gohan vows to make Cell suffer for his evil deeds and tortures him. Cell has no chance of recovery and Gohan knows this. As one final act to embarrass “Perfect” Cell, Gohan gut checks the monster, forcing him to vomit up Android 18; resulting in Cell reverting to his Second Form. Gohan has victory in sight! He won! He just need to blast Cell away with just one good energy blast and the nightmare will be finally over!
Unfortunately, Gohan’s justice boner and unethical method of torture against Cell would go to his head. Cell (who’s utterly embarrassed and humiliated) decides to say fuck everything and everyone, pictures himself as an ISIS suicide bomber, gathers massive ammounts of ki in a last ditch effort to destroy Earth and. With no other choice (due to his son’s fuckery) Goku teleports in front of Cell, grabs him, teleports to King Kai planet. Cell has no choice but to blow himself up on King Kai;s, killing everyone on the planet besides himself because plot demands that Goku shouldn’t grab Bubbles, King Kai, and Greg and teleport back to Earth.
Congratulations Gohan. You played yourself.
“Gohan before I die I just want to let you know that this is all your fault.”
‘Do not go past the mark you aimed for; in victory, learn when to stop.’
-Law 47 of the 48 Laws of Power.
Cell survives, somehow learns Goku’s teleport , and uses it to teleport back to Earth (he also regain his perfect form because plot). He greets everyone by blasting a hole through Trunks’s chest. He dies. Vegeta snaps, finally admitting to the world he’s actually a big softie who loves his family, blasts Cell but he lives. Cell is too much for everyone thanks to that Zenkai boast he earned from blowing himself up. Everyone starts to lose hope until Gohan gets that classic Shonen power-up, get a prep talk from his dead dad, and then kill Cell! YAY!
Everyone lived happily ever happy expect for Chi-Chi who just became a single parent thanks to Gohan’s and Goku’s bullshit.
Rena vs Ritsuko
Gotta love curb stomp fights!
Speaking of single parents, you shouldn’t fuck with the daughter of a single father, especially if she’s a daddy’s girl and they all they got.
After being cucked by his ex-wife (which lead to her being pregnant by the man she was sleeping with), Mr. Ryuugu and his daughter Rena Ryuugu moved to the peaceful and lovely village of Hinamizawa to start over. For those unawared of the Higurashi series let me fill you in on some information. Rena is crazy. Like, she’s not psychotic crazy like Yuno Gasai of Future Diary, but she’s pretty crazy (that’s of course, if you ignore the one time she tried to blow up her school). Her madness is triggered when somebody tries to mess and offend her or somebody she cares about – like her father. She’s your classic yangire; a usually sweet person who becomes violent due to extreme emotional stress.
Rena’s a sweet girl deep down if you ignore the fact she may have a few bodies on her like Suge Knight or P. Diddy.
So Rena and her pops are chillin’ and livin’ peacefully in Hinamizawa until one day, Papa Ryuugu hooked up with the alluring ho Rina Mamiya (a.k.a Ritsuko). Rena’s dad instantly falls in love with Ritsuko, believing the woman is better than his former wife. He showers her with gifts, praise, and even buys her a luxurious condomimum! Papa Ryuugu has finally found the perfect woman! That or he’s on some rebound shit after dealing with his ex-wife, but I don’t like to rain on people parade, so let’s pretend he’s actually happy and not being played like a sucker.
And boy – he’s being played.
A couple of days into their “relationship”, a man in a $5 Walmart Hawaiian shirt comes a knockin’ at the front door of the Ryuugu house. Mr. Ryuugu answers, and is suddenly attacked by this guy claiming to be Ritsuko’s man. The man, A Pimp Named Slickback Teppei, threatens if Mr. Ryuuguu doesn’t fork over a couple of millions of yen for sleeping with his girl, he’s going to do some horrible things to him. Like forcing him to watch the anime version of Umineko no Naku Koro Ni. Or blow his head off with a gun I don’t remember the details.
Mr. Ryuguu suck at picking women, doesn’t he?
Anyways, Rena overhears Ritsuko and A Pimp Named Slickback Teppei boasting about their latest Badger Game, with her dad as their current victim. The two are proud that they’ve ruined a man and his daughter’s lives. They’re about to cash out like Bobby Shmurda and get this illegal money quick. Or so they believed. Rena is pissed. She wants revenge.
You do not fuck with people’s family.
Now, Rena could had just gone crazy and kill Ritsuko right then and there, but Rena is extraordinary wise for her age. She knows if she just rush and try to confront either Ritsuko or Teppei, it would spell doom for not only her, but her beloved father as well. Rena comes up with a plan. She’s just gonna use her innocent and naive charm to lure both Ritsuko and Teppei into a murderous trap. For all they know, she is unaware of their plan to entrap her father.
‘Play a sucker to catch a sucker – seem dumber than your mark.’ -Law 21 of the 48 Laws of Power
Rena hits up Ritsuko to come and kick it with her at her hide out spot: The Garbage Dump. The two meet up at Rena’s super-duper ultra-edition secret hideout and the two have a lovely girl chat about…well I’m not a girl so I don’t know what girls like to discuss in private. Ritsuko asks Rena about her hideout place and Rean tells her it’s a secret place that only she knows about, describing how peaceful, quiet, and serene the place is if you can ignore the smell of rotting garbage. Ritsuko then brings up that her and Rena’s dad are to be married soon and if Rena approval of the marriage.
Rena flats out tells Ritsuko no and explain to the scam artist that she’s hip to her and Teppei’s plan to entrap her father, and scam him out of his fortune. Rena goes further, telling Ritsuko that she hates her and to remove herself from their lives. Ritsuko snaps, berates Rena, beats her, slams her to the ground and starts choking her. She becomes overconfident, believing that she can get away with killing Rena at her private hideout. Yeah. Rena’s private hideout. Ya know, the same hideout that Rena lured her into as if she wasn’t prepared to fight against her if shit went south.
As they’re struggling on the ground, Rena grabs a piece of glass and slice Ritsuko’s stomach open. Ritsuko freaks out, favoring her wound. Rena grabs a lead pipe, gets up, and enters her yangire rage mode. Ritsuko starts begging for her life as Rena raises the pipe above her head, asking for pardon, but it’s far too late. Rena brings down the pipe with power, speed, and accuracy – craving in Ritsuko head. Rena continues her assault chanting “Die! Die! Fucking die!” with each strike until she snaps out of her rage.
WOOOORLD STTTTAAAARRRR!!!!
Confirming her kill, Rena hides Ritsuko’s battered body in a fridge and makes her way home. As luck would have it, Rena encounters Teppei at her house, attacking her father. Rena hides behind a tree as she watch Teppei contitiune his assult on her dad and threatening him for his money.* As Teppei walks away, Rena greets him sweetly. She tells the man that she’s the daughter of the man he just beaten, and that she and Ritsuko have become close. Rena tells Teppei that Ritsuko needed to see him to ask him something. Teppei is confused but follows Rena to her hideout.
*(So I totally got the time order of Teppei arriving at their house assaulting her dad mixed up. Whoops.)
“Hey I know you just beat my father up, but follow me to this remote garbage dump where nobody can hear your screams. I’m totally not going to kill you for hurting my dad!”
Rena lures him to her hideout the same fashion as she did Ritsuko. As Teppei questions why Ritsuko needed to see him in the garbage dump, Rena cleaves his head in two with her billhook, killing the man instantly – gaining revenge on the two who offended her.
The following morning Rena snitches on herself to her friends about the murder but since they’re good friends they help her chop up their bodies and bury their remains.
Later, Rena repays her friends back by taking them hostage at their school, which was infested with homemadee bombs and gasoline. Depending on which universe you wanna follow, either Rena and Keiichi have an epic showdown on the top of their school which ends with Keiichi forgiving Rena (as she did for him in another universe), or Rena blows everyone up in the school, killing them all!
The End!
Niggas be like “Free my homegirl she wasn’t doing shit!”
Kids, do not fuck with people. Do not offend or hurt them in any way. It’ll cost you more than what’s it worth. Cell learned the hard way with messing with Gohan and Ritsuko with Rena. Learn from their mistakes.
Well, thank God for the saying “A picture is worth a thousands words” because I suck at describing visuals. And I want to finish editing the grammar errors of my next post that is coming very soon so I’m going to leave you guys with some pretty anime pictures.
Ya know to be honest, I ‘m really not that well versed in anime history to say with confidence that I have an all time favorite animation studio (I’m working on that). There are however, two studios that I greatly respect – Gainax and Toei Animation. There are other companies I love such as Madhouse and Shaft, but I’m directing this post towards Gainax and Toei Animation today.
Toei Animation (Founded in 1956):
I love Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball, so of course I would give Toei a little mention. Toei is an animation juggernaut produced over a 100+ shows and movies in their 50 or so active years. Some of their well-known titles include Tiger Mask, Saint Seiya, Cyborg 009, Ultimate Muscle, and Galaxy Express 999.
Gainax (Founded in 1984):
In 1983, twelve people would make an everlasting impact on otaku culture and the field of animation with their six minute animated short “Daicon IV”. This short showcased the otaku fandom love of giant robots, manga, sci-fi movies, American comics, and of course anime at the time. It was a celebration of all things otaku as the short unified the variety of otaku niches for a common purpose and love.
What should be noted from Daicon IV are the technical skills of the staff, considered to be highly impressive in quality – even by amateur animators standards. Many of the techniques shown in Daicon IV would become future staples in Gainax’s animation history such as the infamous “Gainax Bounce” to name one influence.
I admire Gainax. They were just a bunch of young college drop outs who pretty much said “Screw all the normal, everyday average crap everyone else is doing! We’re gonna start our own shit and show the world what it means to be otaku!” (see: Otaku no Video), followed their passion, ran with it, and became successful off their love of otaku culture.
With that, there are my two favorite animation companies. Sorry if I didn’t go more rigorously with this one. My ass got kicked at work and I’m pretty worn out. Plus, I’m prepping for Anime Midwest in Chicago (Rosemon, IL), so my focus is directed towards the convention.
I’ve been looking forward to Days 5 and 6 of this list. I love music. I love anime. This will be a challenge indeed. There are far too many endings songs I love that I can not possibly just choose one as my favorite. I’m going to do ten songs, five opening and five ending themes for each day and let you in on why I love them so much.
5.An Evil Angel and a Righteous Devil
Dragon Ball Super ED 8
Performed by The Collectors
With the Tournament of Power Arc introducing a new ending theme this week (Haruka by Lacco’s Tower), I thought it would be a great idea to start off this list with the Arc’s first ending theme. An Evil Angel and a Righteous Devil is my personal favorite of the Dragon Ball Super ending themes due to the political tone and themes of the lyrics and music video (choosing a side, deception, the tragedy of war, etc.), something I would never expect from a Shonen series such as Dragon Ball.
I’ve already given an in-depth analysis on the song in an earlier post, so please check out the link provided.
‘Angels and devils: even if the devils were really angels
Righteousness and evil would still hold no meaning
Winning or losing doesn’t benefit anyone –
Everyone is simply hurt, crying at the end’
Number Four:
Dou Kangaete mo Watashi wa Warukunai (lit. No Matter How I Look at It, I’m not Popular)
Watamote Ed 1
Performed by Izumi Kitta (voice actress of series heroine Tomoko Kuroki)
Great songs are the ones that are personal. It’s even better if find parallels in the lyrics to your own life or if the performance of the song matches the spirit of the song’s central theme. The first ending theme of “Watamote” captures this as voice actress Izumi Kitta’s performs as Tomoko the series socially awkward main character I coudn’t help but find a sense of similarity by listening to Tomoko sing about her inability to commute with “normies”, wasting her life online, and her loneliness.
I also couldn’t help but laugh as in reflection of my old days of being a shut-in weeaboo back in middle and high school – feeling superior to my normie peers.
…god i was such a special snowflake trash back in the day.
‘After all the time I’ve spent online
My voice won’t even come out after all this time
In rain or shine, it doesn’t change
Is that right?! It’s not my fault!’
Number Three
Hiru no Tsuki (lit. Daytime Moon)
Outlaw Star ED 1
Performed by Arai Akino
‘This serene feeling…
Tell me, what’s the word people use for it?’
“This serene feeling”. It’s the feeling I had towards Hiru no Tsuki ever since I was a child watching Outlaw Star. Despite being ignorant to the Japanese language and the context of Hiru no Tsuki back then, I always felt this peaceful, yet sorrowful presence in Akino’s performance and in the song itself. 11-year-old Benjamin couldn’t quite tell exactly what or why the reason for the feeling back then but he knew that there was more to Outlaw Star than just the simple story of ragtag crew traveling through space finding treasure and collecting money.
Hiru no Tsuki fueled the feeling.
Emily Brown and Ayako Kawasumi’s (American and Japanese voice actresses of Melfina) performance of Hiru no Tsuki in Episode 21 (Grave of the Dragon) drove the sorrowful emotion point home with Melfina singing acapella – possibly reflecting on her longing to understand the purpose and reason on why does she exist; despite her artificial creation.
The pain in her heart.
‘Will the time come? When you will know the pain in my heart?
Then you’d be able to be gentler than you are now.’
Number Two
Ride on Shooting Star
Fooly Cooly ED
Performed by The Pillows
Ride on Shooting Star doesn’t make sense. You can not make sense of it, no matter how much you want it to. It’s confusing. It’s crazy. It’s nonsense. It’s perfect for FLCL!
Think about it: Fooly Cooly is a crazy and outlandish anime series. You know what else is crazy and confusing? Puberty – and the changes that it brings. Unexplained changes and experiences you did not understand at all as a teenager. What’s one of Fooly Cooly’s creative themes? Dealing with puberty and not knowing how to deal with it. That’s why Ride on Shooting Star is perfect as the series’s ending theme. It doesn’t need to make sense and that’s why it’s perfect.
‘Ride on shooting star
With the voice of my heart, like a shotgun
I kept on singing’
Number One
The Real Folk Blues
Cowboy Bebop ED
Performed by Mai Yamane and The Seatbelts
‘THE REAL FOLK BLUES
I just want to know real sadness
Sitting in the muddy river, this life isn’t so bad either
If it ends once.’
The lyrical music of Cowboy Bebop is of an expansion of the series’s story beyond simple background atmosphere. Cowboy Bebop is heavily influences by music so it shouldn’t be a shock how the music in the series work in synergy for the narrtive of Cowboy Bebop with songs such as “Rain”, “Blue”, and ending theme song “The Real Folk Blues”.
Spike’s tale is that of a depressing, saddening one. While there are many things about Spike and his past that we may never know, we do know and are aware of the sad realities of it. One could consider The Real Folk Blues as additional information on Spike, with lines in the song such as “The despair that grew out of hope
And this chance with a trap laid in it “ and “How long must I live to be healed?”.
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed my top five anime ending themes! What are some of your favorites? Please tell me in the comments below and see ya later!
I’ve been looking forward to Days 5 and 6 of this list. I love music. I love anime. This will be a challenge indeed. There are far too many opening songs I love that I can not possibly just choose one as my favorite. I’m going to do ten songs, five opening and five ending themes for each day and let you in on why I love them so much.
Keep in mind that there’s order to this list (although number one is based off personal bias)
Dan Dan Korko Hikareteku (lit. Bit bv Bit My Heart is Charmed)
Dragon Ball GT OP
By Field of View
There are only three good things about Dragon Ball GT – the animation, the new ideas presented (that were poorly executed sadly), and the music. When I’m talking about GT’s music, I am not speaking of the horrible American original soundtrack (OST). And I’m especially not talking about horrible attempt at hip-hop that is “STEP INTO THE GRAND TOUR” trash (still to this day I cringe every time I hear that shit).
I’m talking about the superior Japanese OST, mainly GT’s opening theme song “Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku” or “Bit by Bit My Heart is Charmed”.
There’s a certain, nostalgic charm with this song, setting it apart from other Dragon Ball opening themes. To start, Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku is actually a love ballad. The character iit reminiscing on the first time he first met the one he fell in love with . On the surface, it seems out of place to have a long song in the Dragon Ball series, but if you dig a little bit, it make sense (plus, original Dragon Ball had a few romantic ending themes and as of recently with the Tournament of Power Arc , “Boogie Back” [the second ending theme of that arc] also carries that romantic feeling of longing).
Dragon Ball as a whole, is a charming series of adventure with unique and lovable diverse characters. Plus, I can promise you that we Dragon Ball fans can remember the first time when we first watched Dragon Ball and fell in love – our hearts charmed by the show bit-by-by. It works.
Finally, the best thing about the song is how it was used in the final episode of Dragon Ball as we relive main character Son Goku’s life, trails, and victories from Dragon Ball, Z, and GT.
‘You see, when I met you
I remembered the view which I had treasured when I was a child’
Smile Bomb
Yuu Yuu Hakusho OP 1
Sung By Sara White
Another intro that gives me a sense of nostalgia. Maybe it’s how the English version still kept that 90s Shonen anime vibe with the lyrics, instrumental arrangement, and singing. Maybe it’s the lyrics and it reflection on friends supporting you on your journey. That’s probably it.
The Hero!!
One Punch Man OP 1
Performed by JAM Project
Have you ever listen to an anime song that you just knew it fit just right with the series? The lyrics fit perfectly with the series’s tone, or the song was just full of so much energy that it felt just right using it as a theme song? That’s “The Hero!!” to me. I don’t think words can even describe the emotion in it, so I’ll just provide the full version below.
‘I wanna be the strongest HERO’
Seriously any version of the iconic Lupin the 3rd Theme
Lupin the III
Composed by Yuji Ohno
Do I really have to explain why I love this song? Seriously I kinda don’t wanna because I have to go to a friend’s house soon. Fine, I’ll explain why. Ready? 70s acid jazz in an anime with a charming thief, the OG Femme Fatale, the stoic wandering samurai, and a smooth gunman. This song makes me want to go out and do some high level criminal things with my crew.
The moment when I first heard the horns section blaring in the first bar of Tank, I knew Cowboy Bebop would be dissimilar to any anime series I’ve watched prior. Cowboy Bebop’s opening combined two of my loves: jazz music and anime. Never would I imagine that somebody in the world would put those two things together and make it work. Let me tell you something, It was at that moment in the year 2001 at the age of 12 that I knew Cowboy Bebop would be a game changer in the American anime fanbase.
With that, those were my favorite anime opening theme. Stay tuned in the future when I’ll drop my top 5 anime ending themes! In the comments, please tell me some of your favorite anime theme songs of all time!
I can not believe I fell for that Attack on Titan bullshit hype.
It was the Spring 2013 anime season. I havent’ watched a new anime series in years and I was wanting to get back into anime, so I could stay current with the new anime trends. I wanted to fit in with the popular weeaboos (a paradox yes) and get on whatever they were on. Attack on Titan was poppin’ up on everyone radars Everywhere on social media, otakus were talking about this new series. AOT made the weeb block hot like the cops during the last day of the month for those quotas. .It was clear that Attack on Titan was the number one contender of “Anime of the Year” in 2013. I wanted to be a part of the new trend.
The premise was interesting: Humanity is being annihilated by enormous human-like titans of enigmatic origins. It’s up to the last reminding humans to fight back against the threat.
One day, my homeboy “Alan” invited me to his place to smoke blunts and watch Attack on Titan. Two birds one stone. Two weebs getting stoned. Perfect. Alan pulled up AOT on Crunchyroll while I was grinding up our trees and packin them into his bowl (I didn’t know how to roll blunts back in 2013). We both took turns taking hits from the bowl, getting ourselves nice and right for the new series.
The episode starts. Mikasa and Eren are running around playing in the walled city Maria having fun doing whatever kids in a fucked up future do. Suddenly, titans appeared – wreaking havoc. There’s chaos and panic everywhere. These massive monsters are eating people, poppin’ them in their mouths like ravers poppin’ pills on the dance floor. Eren and Misaka rush home to safety, only to watch helplessly as his mom is snatched up by a stoned looking smilin’ titan like an unattended white kid left alone in a park.
The kids can only watch helplessly as the titan shoves Carla into its mouth and consume her alive. Or dead. I don’t remember.
Alan and I watched in awe as we witnessed a new era of “great” anime. We were blown away by the animation, the suspense, and drama. We declared Attack on Titan the best anime of 2013, and it only has been about ten minutes into the first episode. We were hooked like suckers. I packed another bowl, took a hit, and pass it to Alan as we enter episode 2. I think we watched about 3-5 more episodes until we were too stoned to watch the show and decided we would pick back up on it the following day.
The next day came. We got some Fruity Pebbles kush off our boy and decided to blow some trees and marathon Attack on Titan before we had to rest up and travel to Chicago for Anime Central the next morning. We resumed from episode 7 and here are things I started to noticed about the anime that made me regret even wasting time watching it.
“Okay, why is it taking so long to get to the damn point?”
“Why are they pussy footing about the basement?”
“This has become another typical entry-level shonen anime. Yay.”
“Nice main character powers with becoming a titan Eren didn’t see that coming.”
“I’m in love with Misaka’s abs. I want Misaka to dominate me and make me call her ‘mommy’ while I lick her abs.”
I didn’t say that last part out loud I kept that to myself. But the point reminds! Attack on Titan was trash. Overrated trash. A complete let down.
I do not know if it was the Fruity Pebbles kush that made me aware that Attack on Titan was actually shit or if the hype died for me too soon, but I was disappointed by the anime. I was hoping that it’ll get better by episode 8. Nope. Maybe episode 9 will make me forgive the series. Nah.
Alan, our homegirl “Claire”, and our homeboy “Dante” (who sold us the Fruity Pebbles) all agreed that Attack on Titan was overrated trash. Hell, Dante even predicted that Eren would have titans powers and the identititly of the Female Titan and Armored Titan before we all knew who they were. That’s how predictable the series was to him.
On the bright side, Attack on Titan has amazing art, animation, music, and sound design. Also Sasha and Misaka are best girls. Just suck that the story wasa bland and the hypetrain led to nowhere.
One should never feel ashamed for enjoying an anime (well, unless it’s some sexualized loli crap, then you should be ashamed and arrested). You shouldn’t feel embarrassed by it – even if it’s a terrible, flawedadaption. You enjoy it regardless. This is how I feel about Studio DEEN’s infamous animation adaption of the visual novel series “Umineko no Naku Koro ni” (When The Seagulls Cry). Despite the disrespect towards the original source material, such as key story elements left out (creating loose ends untied) and animation errors, I hold a small space in my heart for Umineko.
A space I use to make fun of shitty adaptions, but a space nonetheless.
Nigga how?Seriously nigga how?
The Umineko anime is garbage compared to the original visual novel and amazing manga counterparts. I can’t deny that Studio DEEN did a horrible job on it. Even if visual novels are awkward to adapt (I assume it’s hard to animated scenes from a source material that only has a static image, character sprites, and background music) , Studio Deen is known in the anime community for being lazy with their work and creating horrible adaptions (see: their version of the Fate/Zero anime). Umineko isn’t exempt from DEEN’s laziness.
The Umineko VN is heavy with detailed dialogue scenes which were omitted from the anime (which I can assume DEEN was being lazy). Any mention of kid Ange’s sickness preventing her to attend the Ushiromiya annual family meeting by her parents from Episode 1 in the anime? Nope! Did you love how Rosa barbarically jammed an ink pen in the eyes of a Goat Butler and saying her saying her epic line ‘I’ll show you how lukewarm the hell you came from is!’ before blowing it brains out with her gun in the visual novel? Well, DEEN decide to not add that in.
Reflect on how sorrowful you felt for Ange when she revealed her true identity was to her brother Battler, pleading to him to defeat Beatrice and return to Kid Ange to prevent living the lonely, depressing life as her future self as she was dying in the visual novel. Remember man?
Well, It’s in the anime, but DEEN managed to ruin that with one simple frame:
Oh the jokes the fanbase were cracking with this awkward shot. 2009 was an amazing time in the Umineko fan community.
Because of Deen’s hilarious errors , the Umineko fanbase straight up loathe the anime. The very mention of the anime and anyone admitting that they enjoy it will trigger even the most chilliest Umineko fan. You’ll get attacked with great vigor by the diehards. It’s not worth it unless you like creating conflict. Go on the Umineko tag on tumblr or /jp/, say you think Studio DEEN did nothing wrong with the anime, sit back and watch the rage.
Despite the flaws of the anime, I still love it as it’s special to me.
Ange (best Umineko girl) and one reason why I love the series
There’s something about the anime that I can forgive its awfulness. It made me aware of narrative themes in anime such as abuse (sexual, emotional, and physical), the past returning, revenge, and suicide. Umineko (both the visual novel and anime) shows how abuse can be passed down within a family, as we see patriarch figure Kinzo passing down his abusive ways to his children. This results in mother Rosa abusing daughter Maria.
Hell, this gets worse with Eva (suffering from being the sole survival of the massacre of her family in Episode 4) abusing her niece Ange (who too was suffering from losing her love ones). The abuse from her aunt, the impact of losing her family (who was involved in some pretty illegal shit mind you), and being bullied in school drove her to become suicidal. Even with the awfulness of the anime, it made me aware of narrative themes within the story-line which got me hooked into the series.
I do not feel ashamed about my love for the Umineko anime. In fact, I feel given it got me into the original visual novel and the manga (which is a superior adaption compare to the anime), Yea, it’s garbage, but it made me notice themes in anime.
Well, I did say I’ll return to writing about anime soon. I’m always good on my word (okay I’m lying about that part). From seeing blogger Karandi’s post, I figure that I’ll do the 30 Day Anime Callenge as well! I have nothing better to write about for the next 30 days (outside my planned posts) so why not!
Day 1 – “Anime I Want to Watch” (boy where do I start?)
Bubblegum Crisis
Bubblegum Crisis was recommended to me by a friend recently. I’ve heard of this legendary cyberpunk OVA series by studios Youmex, AIC, and Artmix during my early anime viewership days, but I never had any means of watching it up until my adult years. While I’m not super deep into 80s and 90s cyberpunk anime, I do love the a e s t h e t i c visuals of that era (there’s something about cel animation man it’s so beautiful). Four kick ass women mercenaries in exoskeleton suits destroying robots and doing whatever kickass women do in 2032 Japan?
Yes please.
This makes me wanna get stoned, listen to vaporwave, and be a s a d b o y.
Nisemonogatari.
Bakemonogatari was a visual and story masterpiece. Can’t believe I slept on the show for seven years. So glad my homeboy got me hip to this show and it’s characters, including best girl Hanekawa (and second best Hitagi). So why I’ve been sleeping on the second animation adaption? I do not know (okay I know it’s because I’m lazy). But I do know that Akiyuki Shinbo is back as chief director with Nisemonogatari. That’s great! You know why? We get his outlandish directing style that we all know and love from him. Yay Shinboism!
My reaction to this scene is likewise.
I’m going to have some E&J for the infamous Toothbrush scene on standby. I have yet to see the scene in full, but I heard it’s quite…interesting. Cringe-inducing creepy incestuous fanservice interesting. Alcohol is needed for that shit.
The anime adaption of the third volume, Owarimonogatari, is coming soon. I best knock out Nisemonogatari and the moves out as soon as possible before that drops this Summer 2017 season.
Summer 2017 Anime
How to ruin your chance of getting a date.
I’m a shitty anime fan. I’ve been lacking on the recent anime game. I’m screwing myself over with my laziness by not to investing the time on watching new shows. If I’m gonna be about this anime blogger life, that means I best expand on the anime I watch. Here are two shows I’m eyeing from the upcoming season!
Gamers!
Looks promising, but I’m not holding my breath on another light novel anime adaption doing well or at the very least blow me away. I do not know much about studio “Pine Jam”, so that will be something on the field of first impressions. From what I’ve researched, it’s like a group of high schoolers forming a video game club with fellow other gaming otaku. Getting some Genshiken vibes here, but I’m doubtful it’ll go heavy with the gaming nerd culture like the Genshiken manga and anime series.
Hajimete no Gal
I’m going to be completely real here. Up until three minutes into writing this paragraph, I’ve never heard of Hajimete no Gal (First Time Girl) and its My Anime List (MAL) synopsis left much to be desire in explaining what’s up with the show (as most MAL synopsis are). I took it upon myself to researching the upcoming anime by studio NAZ (hey! That sounds like Nas the rapper. That must be a great sign!)
After completing my quick lackluster research, I found that Hajimete no Gal is based off Shonen Ace’s romantic comedy manga of the same name by Meguru Ueno. Main character Junichi is pressured by his homeboys to seek out a girlfriend and lose his virginity to her during his first year of high school. He encounters the alluring gyaru Yukana, who shames him for looking at a porn magazine openly in school. Junichi decides to make it his mission to confess his feelings towards Yukana and get with her.
To his surprise, Yukana is incredibly sexually forward, teasing him about how much he wants to sleep with her by flashing her panties and revealing her cleavage towards the kid. From my first impression off two chapters, the art is amazing and the story is funny enough to catch my attention.
I have high hopes for the adaptation!
There are my anime I want to see soon! With that, the day 1 challenge is completed! Onwards to day 2!
NOTE:This is the text version of the audio discussion between my friend DJ Killzown and myself on the same topic. The link to the YouTube will be provide below.
A convention is a wonderful place to meet and befriend new people who share your passive for nerd pop culture. You can be yourself without being ridiculed for who you are. However, just like in the real world, you still have to obey the laws of the land, use common sense and logic at conventions. Just because somebody is cosplaying as a sexy Slave Leah outfit doesn’t give you the right to touch her. Somebody has a cool prop you’re admiring? That’s great! Just ask permission to hold and touch it first. You don’t wanna ruin the con experience for yourself or somebody because you’re on some childish crap. Don’t know what not to do at conventions or need a refresher? Well, we’re here to help! Not Taking Care of Your Personal Hygiene
Look, there’s no excuse for not taking care of your hygiene; both in the real world, and at conventions. You need to shower and take care of other hygiene issues before you hit the con floor. Take a damn hot soapy shower. Use deodorant. Brush your teeth. Comb or brush your hair.. Freshener your breath. People are sensitive to body odor. You are being selfish when you do not bathe. Again, there’s no excuse.
Disrespect Personal Boundaries.
People attend conventions to have a good time. They don’t want it ruined by some creep or somebody breaking their props. It should go without saying, but think before you act. Keep your hands to yourself; cosplay is not consent. People have worked hard for months on their costume and props. They don’t want it destroyed by some touchy grabby idiot. Please ask for a picture before you snap one. Don’t become that one creepy photographer that gets talked about within the community.
Ghost the convention Please, support the convention. If you want the convention to flourish, you must buy a badge. Ghosting hurts the convention as they lose money to stay afloat. Every penny counts. If you want better and bigger guests, convention to expand, and an overall better home con, supports the convention. Buy a badge.
Consume drugs/alcohol beyond your limit
Partying is not a secret at the convention scene, so I’m going to say this: please know your limit when consuming drugs or alcohol. Don’t consume drugs or alcohol on the convention grounds. Leave that shit in your room If you smoke trees in an illegal state, spray yourself down or cover the smell with tobacco smoke. Be aware if law enforcement catch your ass with that shit, you’re getting locked up, no tolerance. Do not drink if you’re underage. Do not serve underage people alcohol. . It’s not worth it.
I hope our tips will help you improve the quality of your experience at conventions. We wish you a great and happy convention season!
Please! Check out our audio discussion on the topic on YouTube!
Audio collab between my boy DJ Killzown Jones and myself. With the convention season well into the summer season, DJkillzown and I figure we will be nice and give nice audio guide on NOT to do at cons.
TOPICS INCLUDE:
Cosplay is NOT Consent
Respecting Personal Boundaries
Personal Hygiene
Ghosting Cons
Alcohol/Drugs Consumption
Hotel Partying
Creeping on Women
To say that Haruhi Suzumiya (The Melachonholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) is a bit of an attention whore is a grave understatement. Haruhi lusts for attention. She demands notability. She wants all eyes on her like Tupac. To Haruhi, the world should and must revolve around only on her. (of course, she’s God after all, so she’s not. She’s not wrong to think that [despite unaware of her godly reality wrapping powers]). Every day, she makes an effort to be noticed, to have people know her name, and who she is. She doesn’t care if people speak of her in a negative light; it keeps her name circulating. She loves it.
Haruhi doesn’t want to fade in the background. She does not want be average, or one of faceless many in the world. Haruhi’s drive is to become extraordinary and different from the rest of the world. To understand this drive, we must look at her flashback scene from episode 13 of season 1.
‘So I figure I would change myself in middle school. Let the world know that I wasn’t a girl content with sitting around and waiting.’ -Haruhi Suzumiya
As they’re walking home from school, Haruhi tells Kyon the story of her family going a baseball game as a child. Haruhi was amazed at the sight of the overflowing, sold out stadium. She believed that the entire population of Japan came together at the venue to watch baseball. When she asked her dad about the number of people in attendance, he told her around 200,000 people. These people, including herself, only made up very small fraction Japan’s population (around 128 million during the show’s original run in 2006). After returning home from the game, she did the math, breaking down the attendance , compared it to the entire population of Japan, and discovered that it only made one two-thousandth of the population of Japan.
Haruhi was just one of many. A drop in the massive and everlasting ocean.
Realizing this, she no longer felt special. Haruhi was just like everyone else; doing the same shit (brushing her teeth, eating breakfast, going to school, etc.). Life became boring. What’s life when you’re just like everyone else? Maybe in the world, there was somebody amazing, unique, and extraordinary And yet, it wasn’t her.
At this revelation, Haruhi had to stand out from the rest of the world. She to get up and demand change by her own will. To not become content with being average. She had to make her mark in the world by any means. To court attention at all cost.
‘Be obsessed or be average.’
-Grant Cardone, American CEO, Author, and motivation speaker
Later, Haruhi set out to achieve her dream of being noticed and not average. On her first day of high school, she proudly introduces herself and states that she isn’t interested normal humans. Rather, she wants to meet with time travelers, aliens, and espers. This caused a stir in her homeroom, making people think just who the fuck is this childish girl, and why does she still believe in such things at the age of 15?
Throughout the series, Haruhi attempts (and mostly succeed at) various actions to be noticed. She devolved a system to change her hairdo by style (she even went as far to wear a different hair ribbion each day). She stripped down from her school uniform into her gym clothes, not caring if her male peers were watching. She attempted to join every school club, only to dip out from each and forming her own club: The SOS Brigade. She stole the show at her school festival, filling in for a sick guitarist ( revealing that she’s an amazing musician in her own right). All in the name of courting attention. She places herself at the center of it all, regardless of what others may think.
In my last post, I explored bullying as a possible source of Kale’s rage, which served as a catalyst for her faux “Legendary Super Saiyan” state. Supported by theories such as her shyness , timid nature, and socially withdrawn, I theorized that Kale may had been bullied in the past, and bottled her anger of being bullied within her. Bottled up until Cabba managed to enrage her, sending her over the edge, and triggering her transformation. Caulifla managed to chill her friend out, telling her that she wasn’t into Cabba romantically (which Cabba assumed was the source of Kale’s anger from his interactions with Caulifa). Hearing this, Kale reverts to her normal state and passes out with a smile on her face. Kale was pleased to know that the two weren’t that close and that her mentor respects her. Maybe Kale likes Caulifa beyond that of a friendly relationship, and seeing Cabba and Caulfia all chummy with each other might had been the cause of her rage.
Is jealously the true link to Kale’s rage? Let’s examine this theory!
In the previously episode, Kale is “spying” on Cabba training Cauifla to become a Super Saiyan. She smiles when Caulifla snaps on Cabba for making her angry. Kale becomes at awe, amazement ,and admiration when Cauifla obtains Super Saiyan with ease. Kale is impressed by her mentor’s achievement, but beats herself up as she states she could never be a Super Saiyan like her. Later (in the following episode), Cabba and Caulifla are encouraging Kale how to become a Super Saiyan. Cabba attempts first. He focus his energy and displays the Super Saiyan form to Kale, who is completely unimpressed by his power.
Caulifla encouraging Kale.
When Caulifla shows Kale her Super Saiyan transformation, she starts blushing and flash a bashful smile towards her. It’s clear that Kale is more impressed by Caulifla’s efforts. Perhaps Kale has a secret gay crush on Caulifla or just really looks up to her.
Either way, Kale has a strong interest towards Cauifla. Too strong maybe, as Kale ggets rather jealous with Cabba and Caulifla’s interaction. Kale assume that they’re too friendly just to be that close. It’s possible that Kale gets jealous quick. A little too jealous for the good of her friend’s sake, and her own sake.
Kale: The Yandere
Kale’s jealously (and inner rage) hits maximum when Cabba and Caulifla are trying their absolute damn best to help Kale tap into the power of the Super Saiyan. After a barrage of insults by Cabba, Kale becomes agitated and discouraged. She loses hope of becoming a Super Saiyan, telling Caulifla that she’ll never reach that level, and that she’s just an useless and pathetic excuse for a Saiyan. Cabba’s words triggered Kale’s emotional state, causing her power to soar. She loses control of all sense and self awareness and finally achieves the Super Saiyan transformation! However, there’s something quiet different about transformation compared to Cabba and Caulifla.
Kale transform into a hulking monster, influcned by her rage and jealously. She focus her attention towards Cabba, and vows to make him her first victim. She lunges at the man with furious anger, completely ignoring Caulifla, who seems to be pretty excited that her friend achieve a greater level of Super Saiyan. As Cabba and Caulifla tries to combat against the berserk Kale, Cabba theorized that Kale’s rage is rooted in assuming that Cabba and Cauifla were a bit wee too close to be just friends.
Caulifla just scoffs at Cabba’s theory and tells Kale that she isn’t so cheap that she would be romantically involved with such a low class Saiyan like Cabba (ouch). Kale hears this, and stops her attack. Caulifla then praises Kale, admiring her superior power. Kale calms down, reverts to her base form, loses consciousness, and falls towards earth. As Kale is falling , Caulifla rushes towards her, catching her in her arms. Cauilfla praises her friend once more, smiling at her sweetly. Despite her unconscious state, Kale herself wears a warm smile across her face , happy to know that Caulifla and Cabba aren’t an item as she originally believed, and her mentor lauding her power.
With the examples provided, I can conclude that Kale’s initial transformation was inspired by her jealously towards Cabba. She assumed that Cabba was romantically close with Caulifla (whom I can assume Kale may have a possible crush on). In addition of Cabba’s insults and her own frustration of feeling useless and fear of failure, Kale unlocked her Super Saiyan form out of pure hatred, jealously, and rage. Thankfully, with Cauilfla’s calm words of respect, and reassuring her that she does not like Cabba, Kale managed to snap out of her rage.
With that all said I hope you’ve enjoy reading my theories on Kale’s power as much as I’ve enjoyed analysiing and writing about it! Stick around for more theories and thoughts on Dragon Ball and other anime series in the future!
We nerds are goofy. You’d think that from experiencing rejection and exclusion by non-nerds, we would be welcoming of our fellow nerds nerds. But nah, we’re not. Some indulge in repeating the same exclusion and rejection cycle they faced in the past to other nerds. Elitist nerds will play the gate keeping game; allowing certain “real” nerds in their circle.
Others will quiz people who they deem fake; asking questions and checking if a person is knowledgeable to their personal level. This essay will explore gate keeping, quizzing, and understanding the causality of such acts.
Gatekeeping is common, yet old practice, existing before the social media and nerd culture boom. Gatekeeping is the act of not allowing certain people into the community; fearing that they’re fake, attention seeking fans (nerds blessed with good looks are often accused of being fake), or casual fans who don’t appreciate the source material.
Example: Some Shin Megami Tensei (SMT) fans believe you’re not a real fan of the SMT series if you started out on Persona, or haven’t branched out to other games of the franchise. Some hardcore SMT fans have belittle, mock, and excluded the newcomers; judging them for not starting or being interested with the archaic (but fun) early games such as SMT 2 or Megami Tensei.
Elitists feel that to be a real fan, you must have outlandish amount of experience and knowledge before joining their ranks. It’s really just their insecurities speaking. They’re afraid of the inclusive.
But hey! What’s a great way to cope with your insecurities? Showcasing your superior, yet unimportant knowledge by quizzing folks! Elitists quiz others on topics that only the truly hardcore (virgin) nerd knows. They’ll ask things like “Who was Akira Toriyama’s first editor”, or “What comic issue did Raven (Teen Titans) debut”? It’s a test to prove you’re worthy to call yourself a real fan. Honestly, it’s stupid and it makes you come off as an asshole.
You know some useless nerd trivial. Congratulations. Nobody is trying to play your quiz game. Nigga you ain’t Alex Trebek.
It’s articles like these that make me an borderline alcoholic.
When compared to their male counterparts, female nerds are more likely to be subjected to quizzing. These beta ass males can’t believe that women have nerdy hobbies and interests, so they gotta drill them to see if they’re not “fake”.
Oh, you’re a pretty girl at a comic book shop who takes care of her personal hygiene, rock a My Hero Academia snapback, and wear a Captain America shirt because you’re a legit fan of the comics before the movies because your dad passed down his Captain America comics to you? If you’re a real Captain America fan, then name the main staff who worked on the June ’97 issue of Captain America!
Can’t answer? You must be a fake nerd girl. Girls don’t read comics!
I mean, I get that these dudes are (probably) still mad about being bullied and rejected for being nerds by girls back in their high and middle school days, but let that shit go. Don’t become the bully fucking with a chick just because she’s a nerd and you assume she’s not a real fan. Go get help or something bruh.
While I do not agree with the gatekeeping, nerd checks, and quizzing, I can somewhat understand why they do such actions. Nerds were/are ridiculed, bullied, and mock for their hobbies for decades. Prior to the recent nerd boom, nerds weren’t accepted by the mainstream. Having nerdy interests was considered weird; nobody wanted to fuck with you. People were on that “Oh I’m a nerd!” game, only to play the real nerds and hurt them for being nerdy.
When you’ve been bullied and teased for your hobbies, you tend to be defensive. It’s a shame that people are like this, but it happens.
Maybe if these elitists weren’t so hurt. Not saying what they’re doing is right though.
We nerds are goofy. You’d think we would be more welcoming of other nerds to our circle. Sadly, with elitism, quizzing, and “nerd checking”, this isn’t the case in our community. Quizzing and nerd checking may leave out some and expose “fake” nerds, but is it worth making newcomers feel excluded?
I can understand why the elitist do this due to ill experiences, however, you got to let go of the past. Past experiences shouldn’t’ determine that everyone on that fake shit based off assumptions.
I would say it’s possible to end this but that would require humanity to end as well.
Yuki The Snowman 