IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a VPN whenever visiting Blorptube, or anywhere else on the internet, for that matter. Protect your privacy.

For this edition of Saturday Anime Night, we’re watching Studio Trigger’s Kill la Kill (2013), which follows the struggle of a schoolgirl to find her father’s killer, and her over-the-top battles with other schoolgirls along the way. Apparently, this is influenced by Blorptube favorite Project A-ko (1986), which is a good enough endorsement for me. A lot of people like this series, so let’s dive in. Episodes 13 through 18 tonight.

Next is On Happiness Road (2017), a Taiwanese animated coming-of-age drama about a girl who dreams of moving to America, and then does, and then grows up, and then returns to Taiwan, and uh-oh, everything’s changed. Life is indeed like that. What is home, anyway? What is family? This film deals with the tough questions. The aesthetic here looks adorable, and the reviews are great, so let’s check it out. This is the best-known and best-regarded work to date of director Sung Hsin-Yin.

BONUS: In addition, @[email protected] will be showing My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic beginning at 6PM EST.

We’ll start at 8PM EST on Blorptube, right here:

https://blorp.zapto.org/o/visual_cuisine

Be there, comrades!

Letterboxd:

• Kill la Kill: https://letterboxd.com/film/kill-la-kill/
• On Happiness Road: https://letterboxd.com/film/on-happiness-road/

Doesthedogdie.com links:

• Kill la Kill: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/26647?index1=-1&index2=-1
• On Happiness Road: Sorry, nothing on DTDD or IMDB.

CWs for Kill la Kill:

• Child abandonment.
• Abusive parents.
• Gaslighting.
• Child abuse.
• Deaths of animals.
• Animal cruelty.
• Objectification of female characters.
• Sexualization of minors.
• Sexual harassment of schoolgirls.
• Blood and gore.
• Sexual assault in episodes 16 and 21.
• Cutting of flesh.
• Someone struggles to breathe.
• Body horror.
• Amputation.
• Unconsciousness.
• Broken bones.
• Tooth damage.
• Finger mutilation.
• Torture.
• Death by falling.
• Eye mutilation.
• Death of child.
• Suicide.
• Death of parent.
• Kidnapping.
• Shower scene.
• Clowns.
• Possession.
• Vomiting.
• Spitting.
• Audio gore.
• Needles.
• Self-harm.
• Misophonia.
• Claustrophobia.
• PTSD.
• Crying baby.
• Profanity.
• Flashing lights.
• Stillbirth.
• Babies.
• Fat jokes.
• Nudity.
• Incest.
• Sex.
• Honking horns.
• Screeching tires.
• Gun violence.

CWs for On Happiness Road:

• Objectification of female characters.
• Profanity.
• Smoking.
• Alcohol.

Links to movies:

• Kill la Kill ep. 13: https://tankie.tube/w/sYW72KeqKqXvj2VYee4AEB
• Kill la Kill ep. 14: https://tankie.tube/w/eT552i9hY5j4HZxdU1fpzU
• Kill la Kill ep. 15: https://tankie.tube/w/naT4rZ1p18kfTUH2kYC2gA
• Kill la Kill ep. 16: https://tankie.tube/w/sgkfbKajxaxAHUremoved8DDAF
• Kill la Kill ep. 17: https://tankie.tube/w/7Gk3wiE72Gp6at4xoiMcbm
• Kill la Kill ep. 18: https://tankie.tube/w/23obZV9FuPZiajRxLD8b3g
• On Happiness Road: https://tankie.tube/w/dTpn49t1yEBYkTmMVEPpkz

It's okay Katsuji became a god after beating the Monarch, his people and the Prime minister by being the customer so he can revive them all if he doesn't die for a fourth time

Just this month, Nikkei reported on a brain drain of animators — this time not overseas, but to the gaming industry, which KADOKAWA Chief of Anime Takeshi Kikuchi described as 30 years ahead of the anime industry in globalization last October. The animation industry faces regular high turnover, stemming from unlivable wages, long working hours, and harassment, making it less viable for graduates. Due to anime production’s gruelling schedules, animators can’t receive proper corrections, and veterans lack the time to pass down their skills, representing another brain drain.

Meanwhile, Korea and China, long the cheap destination for Japanese anime outsourcing, are developing their capabilities. Korea’s Studio PPURI received widespread acclaim for its opening video for Solo Leveling Season 1 last year, while Chinese anime quality is quickly growing, now regularly imported to Japan and then overseas.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government has implemented policies to increase its domestic animation industry, increasing its competitiveness in both quality and wages. A 2023 JETRO report estimated that even despite reductions in foreign animation entering China from 2019, owing greatly to protectionist policies, China’s animation industry still enjoyed double-digit growth until at least 2022. JETRO credits this to the increase in the number of domestically produced animation works and improvement in quality.

Despite Yoshioka’s words, many have differing opinions of what “sustainable” anime production looks like. Groups like NAFCA have called for increased return of revenues to the field — the on-site staff making the anime. Since most anime studios are taking jobs merely to survive, most can’t escape the threat of impending insolvency, arguably making this necessary.

I'm also decently fond of Henshin Mahou Shoujo Pururin, but Mirakurun is simply GOATed, she has no equal. Sometimes I just go "Giga Giga Giga" in public to see if I can identify fellow fans. That scene where Mirakurun hammered Ganbô-sama was crazy!

IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a VPN whenever visiting Blorptube, or anywhere else on the internet, for that matter. Protect your privacy.

For this edition of Saturday Anime Night, we’re watching Studio Trigger’s Kill la Kill (2013), which follows the struggle of a schoolgirl to find her father’s killer, and her over-the-top battles with other schoolgirls along the way. Apparently, this is influenced by Blorptube favorite Project A-ko (1986), which is a good enough endorsement for me. A lot of people like this series, so let’s dive in. Episodes 7 through 12 tonight.

Next is Elemental (2023), a rom-com from Pixar about a world populated by four races, made of sentient fire, water, earth, and wind, respectively. In this diverse milieu, a flame girl and a water guy fall in love, despite their differences. This sounds like a spoof of a Pixar movie, but hey, it got good reviews, so let’s check it out.

We’ll start at 8PM EST on Blorptube, right here:

https://blorp.zapto.org:8443/o/visual_cuisine

Be there, comrades!

Letterboxd:

• Kill la Kill: https://letterboxd.com/film/kill-la-kill/
• Elemental: https://letterboxd.com/film/elemental-2023/

Doesthedogdie.com links:

• Kill la Kill: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/26647?index1=-1&index2=-1
• Elemental: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/895783

CWs for Kill la Kill:

• Child abandonment.
• Abusive parents.
• Gaslighting.
• Child abuse.
• Deaths of animals.
• Animal cruelty.
• Objectification of female characters.
• Sexualization of minors.
• Sexual harassment of schoolgirls.
• Blood and gore.
• Sexual assault in episodes 16 and 21.
• Cutting of flesh.
• Someone struggles to breathe.
• Body horror.
• Amputation.
• Unconsciousness.
• Broken bones.
• Tooth damage.
• Finger mutilation.
• Torture.
• Death by falling.
• Eye mutilation.
• Death of child.
• Suicide.
• Death of parent.
• Kidnapping.
• Shower scene.
• Clowns.
• Possession.
• Vomiting.
• Spitting.
• Audio gore.
• Needles.
• Self-harm.
• Misophonia.
• Claustrophobia.
• PTSD.
• Crying baby.
• Profanity.
• Flashing lights.
• Stillbirth.
• Babies.
• Fat jokes.
• Nudity.
• Incest.
• Sex.
• Honking horns.
• Screeching tires.
• Gun violence.

CWs for Elemental:

• Someone leaves without saying goodbye.
• Child abandonment.
• Stalking.
• Someone’s mouth is covered.
• Someone struggles to breathe.
• Asphyxiation.
• Someone sacrifices themselves.
• Death of non-human.
• Death of parent.
• Natural bodies of water.
• Meltdown.
• Anxiety attacks.
• Claustrophobia.
• Underwater scenes.
• Crying baby.
• Flashing lights.
• Someone is watched without their knowledge.
• Babies.
• Aphobia.
• Hate speech.
• Discussion of religion.
• Male character ridiculed for crying.
• Chronic illness.
• Homelessness.

Links to movies:

• Kill la Kill ep. 7: https://tankie.tube/w/fWAEEEjyLwzNf38tBXiCsA
• Kill la Kill ep. 8: https://tankie.tube/w/r2JqwKXPJWcxNbNZSnRthB
• Kill la Kill ep. 9: https://tankie.tube/w/p32ruASvZhx8XZ2tjQ5XEt
• Kill la Kill ep. 10: https://tankie.tube/w/r1sMWF4Y2xFsKVA41abLXq
• Kill la Kill ep. 11: https://tankie.tube/w/buWyk6nG99RNsrGW5JxPyf
• Kill la Kill ep. 12: https://tankie.tube/w/3scDWFyj4SLQNWtjRW63Pc
• Elemental: https://tankie.tube/w/1JLPxiYyh5o3ULo9qYqrqY

Nap time... of DOOM

What did you think of this week's chapter?

One Piece is on break next week

Nap time... of DOOM

What did you think of this week's chapter?

One Piece is on break next week

Rejoice, this month's thread is here.

Personally:

Manga:

Nothing. I plan to go back to reading the Apothecary Diaries soon though, as long as I finish reading a surprisingly good Evangelion fanfiction I picked up on a whim, as well as start reading Koji Kumeta's Shibuya Near Family

Anime:

Scrapped Princess (2003) was fine. The start was pretty strong, but then settled into a decent but unremarkable quality. Still, at least it's not generic isekai slop. But as with many shows of those years, Neon Genesis Evangelion always seems to sneak into the plot. B-

Finished Gundam Wing (1995) and actually ended up liking it, even though it's got nonsense liberal melodramatic politics about pacifism. B+

Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu (2003) is unhinged, and that's why I love it. A+

Kakushigoto (2020) sent me back into the Koji Kumeta spiral again. Highly entertaining writing as usual, but instead of cynical GenX political satire, it's a wholesome slice of life show about a mangaka who doesn't want his daughter to find out about it. I was not sure what to expect, but it's a great show so far. Similar in concept to Yotsuba&, but it got me hooked fast, whereas Azuma Kiyohiko's work surprisingly didn't. A+