#Hulu Original Animes

[disneytva]

Disney Japan attended Anime Japan 2024 where they showcased it's 2024 Anime lineup for Hulu, Star+ & Disney+ International trought the Disney Anime division

Highlights include SANDLAND, MACROSS, GEASS PROJECT, ONE PUNCH MAN and CHAINSAW MAN

[edwardsissyhandsthtdanceslikeabb]

i feel like i'm slowly linking pretty much all of my banger shows to generational trauma (i.e bojack, succession, invincible) or some otherwise maladaptive response to the often totalitarian shaping that children who have been parasitized by vicarious idealizations suffer — however, as i've come to realize that the bear (a show i made a previous meta on when i sort of scented this notion but couldn't really articulate it), embodies this in a completely transformative way.

the bear may be about generational trauma, and though this initially sounds counterintuitive, it's not a show about carmy's generational trauma, its a show of camy's generational trauma.

the show doesn't explore the ways carmy's been wrecked, it moreso uses them to give character to his dysfunctions, to help the viewer see corporeal manifestations of the chaos brewing inside of him. the fanfare of carmy's life is the bear, its all the bombast and theatre of life's torture porn tendencies looming over his shoulder and rotting the floorboords and having its poison drip through, it's all the regrets and flashes of shame and brokenness slowly clawing through anything good in his life bc good things are brittle and unpredictable and detract from his value as a person, the utility he's found in being untouchable and cold and practically mechanical, and the way that makes one feel like all of the suffering was worth it.

it's carmy letting his internalizations of imperfection, from his family, his relationships, himself, his life, dictate what should define him. carmy circumventing feelings of helplessness with compulsive, neurotic control, aiming to undo the damage that chaos wrought through obsessive perfection.

its him eviscerating the [personal] value of his deep need and capacity for autonomy and forgiveness and peace, by reinforcing the same parasitic paternalisms he was fleeing from in the first place.

its him going from his mom to his mentor chef.

its him becoming what destroyed his chances to be human, destroyed his chances to be him. his own person, with individual purpose and intrinsic meaning and happiness.

that sort of self-dehumanization is what carmy is dripping into syd. like yes they have similarities, i'm not trying to deny that, but i feel like the 3rd season, especially the last episode, highlighted why syd x carm wouldn't be an optimal or even relevant consideration for their current dynamic, and that's bc carmen sees sydney as an extension of himself. she's all the things that validate his: maybe this is worth it, maybe i'm supposed to be a chef, its actually okay that i'm not functional bc now i get to be useful and revered and mean smth in the world and i'm no longer weak and useless deadweight.

now, now, i've proved myself, i've embodied the predetermined mould, i've surpassed it. i've become real, finally claimed autonomy.

its him seeing their similarities as reason to mould her in turn, as the only thing she needs. carmen reducing himself to apparatus and so reducing her in turn.

its a perversion of empowerment, accessing control through wielding it against others.

with syd exhibiting certain tendencies bc carmy spurs them from her. like sydcarm both having panic attacks, both being hyperfocused on stains, carmy wanting a star, not just bc syd acts as the northstar of his craft but bc he wants to prove himself. he wants to be excellent too. or them both snapping at softer, caring figures like tina when frustrated. its sydcarm degrading others under stress, sharing memories of hostile bosses, bosses who didn't appreciate them, whose mentorship was selfish with care and dignification and belief — made them feel small and claustrophobic and marginalized by one's own worst traits - by dysfunction willingly embraced.

and now you want out but you're also ambitious like syd, or proud like carmy, and its your pull to chaos vs your pull to happiness splintering you. now anything good is just a cruel fleeting thing that reminds you of what you won't let yourself have. now, people can only try reach out to the bear, coax it.

enter claire, who often gets flack for being a manic pixie dream girl and unrealistic, but when dealing with carmy, she revealed smth very primal in him, was palliating wounds he's let fester into core beliefs. like think abt it, claire is gentle, and claire treats carmen like he is gentle, fragile, she affirms his worth constantly and perpetually reassures him, whether intentional or not, claire aims to soften his wounds, aims to coax him out of his armor. she recognizes the depth residing in carmy, that the bear is equally damaged as it is brilliant, yet senses that a lot of that was mangled by malignance and flagellation. she attempts to let the bear shed his skin, remember who he is again. that someone cares abt him, both the chef and the boyfriend, the professional and the life of the party, he's allowed to have both. him the prodigy, the baby lamb. but claire spent so much time nursing the deer, by the time her own interiority could have room for growth, carmy had already cut her off, the sheep back in bear's clothing.

claire is the desperate attempt to reach someone backfiring completely, the incongruence between want and need, and how this can destroy you from the inside.

and the funny thing is that, neither claire nor the bear are carmy's actual need, when — beyond a gf not being able to fix carmy — he still kicks and screams at love and care despite desperately needing them. he's still the one who overindulged in the perfect patience of claire's love and validation, yet spurned it over how incapable and human it made him feel, still didn't want to lose control of himself, his personhood, his value.

he's still trying to imbue this same perfection into those closest to him in the kitchen, still insulating himself in that headspace, a wounded animal ensnared by a deathtrap, the bear stuck in his own freezer on his debut day.

its a trap that kills, and as carm embraces his confines, they throttle harder in turn, capturing those reaching for him in their rot.

it started with donna and passed down to carmen (who sought it in his mentor) and is dripping into syd. into richie, into claire, its carmen cultivating dysfunctions in all those beholden to him, dependent on his guidance, support or love.

its beyond generational, its a malignance, a pathogen, and although carmen may not realize how his conflation of perfection and value are lethal to him, its smth slowly killing nonetheless, mauling the warmth and love and soul of the kitchen, just as it slowly kills it in him. the bear killing the bear.

[waltergamersposts]

Team Sonic vs The Warner Siblings

[fuckyourtriangles]

why can I watch Hellsing on Disney+ lmao

[aricampos16]

My review today is on the newly rebooted Futurama.

A guy named Fry finds himself in the future after being frozen for thousands of years. Now he navigates his new life as a delivery guy with the help of his friends/coworkers Leela, Bender, Professor Farnsworth, Hermes, Amy, and Dr. Zoidberg.

Now their back after being frozen in time, and I think the revival is off to a great start. I love this show because it’s funny, the animation is great, and it feels like their not trying so hard. I love how their voice actors didn't change and neither did the animation stye. Definitely recommend it!

[amxndareviews]

'Koala Man' Review

#KoalaMan Series Review: "The series explores individuality & family quite well. These characters all have room to grow, & there’s a natural progression to their changes.  It's a very refreshing adult-animated series for @hulu that will make you smile."

By: Amanda Guarragi In the age of superheroes, everyone seems to want to be recognized for doing some good. Even if it’s a backwards way of being helpful. We have become so used to the formulas being recycled. So when something fresh like Koala Man is released, there’s an appreciation for the change, which makes it unique to the character. The series follows a family father with a not-so-secret…

[yumeka-sxf]

Japanese Linguistic Observations in Spy x Family - part 5

Part 5 - Translating humor and wordplay

Translating jokes from one language to another can be difficult, especially when the humor revolves around wordplay that's only apparent in the original language. Luckily for a comedy series like SxF, most of the humor relies on concepts that are universal to all languages, but there are the occasional jokes that require creative translation in order to get the same effect in English. What I think is the most well-known example of this kind of joke in SxF is from chapter 26, where Yuri tells Anya that "knowledge is power" during their tutoring session.

The Japanese phrase for this is 知は力 ("chi wa chikara"). Anya mishears this as ちわわぢから ("chiwawa jikara"), which means "chihuahua power," which is why we see the image of a muscular chihuahua in her thoughts. This results in Yuri calling her チワワ娘 ("chihuahua girl") from then on. Obviously this joke would be lost if translated directly, so Casey Loe, the official English translator for the SxF manga, got creative with making it work in English. He cleverly utilizes the English expression, "the whole enchilada," which sounds enough like "swole chihuahua" for Anya to believably mistake the two. This translation also makes it so that Yuri calling Anya "chihuahua girl" later on makes sense.

But unfortunately, because a series can have different companies working on the localization of its anime versus its manga, inconsistencies between the two often come up. In this case, the anime team translated this joke completely differently, and less effectively in my opinion. You can see from the below screenshots that they had Yuri use the word "unleash," which then led to Anya associating a (muscular) dog without a leash as powerful (?) Again, this translation was a stretch in my opinion and not as good as the manga version. This also makes it so that translating Yuri's nickname for Anya as "chihuahua girl" won't make sense.

But what's interesting is that, many months and episodes later in season 2, they stayed consistent with that translation and had Yuri call Anya "stupid leash girl" in episode 28.

Despite my dislike for this translation, I have to give them kudos for remembering it all that time later and not just directly translating it as "chihuahua girl." Though it makes me wonder if they'll stay consistent in season 3 where Yuri will be referring to Anya as "chihuahua girl" once again.

A further complication is that, not only do these kinds of inconsistencies exist between the anime and manga translations, but they also exist between the different streaming services that stream SxF with English subtitles throughout the world. I only have access to the subtitled version from Hulu, which is where my screenshots are from, and I think other streaming services in the US like Crunchyroll, Amazon, Netflix, etc, use the exact same subtitles. So when I refer to "the Hulu subtitles" throughout this post, I mean other major US streaming services too. However, I'm not totally sure if they all do share the same subtitle script, so if anyone who has these services could confirm, that would be great! However, @tare-anime informed me that Muse Asia's English subtitles for SxF are completely different! For example, they translated the above joke more closely to the original, by using the phrase "puppy power" and keeping Yuri's nickname for Anya as "chihuahua girl."

There are further differences with Muse Asia's translation as well, for example, they directly translate Anya's names for Loid and Yor, "chichi" and "haha," as "Father" and "Mother" instead of "Papa" and "Mama."

(thanks again to Tare for the Muse Asia screenshots!) This is different, not only compared to the Hulu subtitles, but also the official English manga as well, both of which have Anya consistently use "Papa" and "Mama."

Tare also let me know that Disney Plus in Asia, another service that streams SxF, has yet another version of the English subtitles! And these are only the subtitled versions for the US and Asia - if SxF is streamed with English subtitles in other countries, I wonder if those are different as well. That means there's at least 3-4 different English subtitle scripts for SxF, with different ways of translating certain things, like what I described above. This could make things confusing for someone without any knowledge of Japanese who reads the English version of the manga and watches the subtitled version of the anime on one or more streaming services...if they read the first few volumes of the manga with the "swole chihuahua" translation, then watch season 2 of the anime, they're gonna be confused about why Yuri calls Anya "stupid leash girl." There's other more minor inconsistencies too, like how the Hulu subtitles have Yor call Anya "Miss Anya" all the time, but the manga doesn't.

I'm sure there's some licensing reasons why there isn't one official English subtitle script that all the streaming services can use, and why they don't consult the manga translations, especially for the more difficult-to-translate parts. It seems like wasted effort for so many official English translations to exist for the same thing.

But anyway, back to the translations of jokes in SxF, another one that stood out to me occurred in chapter 23. During the scene where Loid is asking Anya about a name for Bond, he explains how dogs have trouble discerning the sounds of consonants. The phrase he uses for this is 子音の聞き分け("shiin no kiki wake"), which means "distinguishing consonants," with "shiin" meaning "consonant." However, there's another word "shiin" with the kanji 死因 that means "cause of death." This is what Yor thinks he means - 死因の聞き分け ("shiin no kiki wake"), which means "determining the cause of death." So in her thoughts, she imagines asking Bond if he prefers death by blood loss (失血死) or by being crushed (圧死), and when he shakes his head at both, she says "you're not good at these distinctions, are you?"

This is a difficult joke to translate, so Casey got a bit loose by having Loid use the word "plosives" instead of "consonants," and then having Yor mishear it as "explosives." He then changed up Yor's dialogue by having her say that Bond prefers C-4 explosions over other methods of death.

While I don't think the translation of this joke worked as well as the previous one (I feel like Yor wouldn't know about C-4 explosions?) I couldn't come up with anything better myself, lol. It just goes to show how translating things as closely to the original as possible isn't always the best choice…but oddly, that's what the Hulu subtitles did! For some reason they opted not to even attempt to rework this joke for English, and kept both Loid and Yor's dialogue as exact translations. This results in an exchange that makes no sense and will leave people wondering how Yor could mistake Loid's "can't tell consonants apart" as "can't tell causes of death apart."

However, there are some cases where the wordplay works similar enough in both Japanese and English that the joke can be translated without too much modification. An example of this is in chapter 59 where Becky asks Yor how she was able to "get" Loid…"pierce his heart" as she puts it. Yor thinks she means this literally, to which she replies that she wouldn't hurt Loid.

The Japanese version is very similar, with Becky using the verb 射止める("itomeru") which means "to shoot down" (with an arrow). However, it has a figurative meaning too, which is "to win" as in "win someone's heart." Yor thinks Becky means the literal meaning of shooting down, so she says that she wouldn't shoot Loid and that she doesn't even use a bow and arrows.

The Hulu subtitles translate it more or less directly, having Becky say "shoot an arrow through his heart" and keeping Yor's "I don't use a bow and arrows" that the manga omitted. Rare case where I think the anime translation worked better than the manga!

In the case of this joke, the concept of "shooting someone's heart" to mean "winning someone's heart" is universal in both English and Japanese, so little reworking was needed. This also helped keep consistency with Yor's tendency to associate otherwise benign concepts with violence due to the nature of her work.

I'll wrap up this post with what I think is the most commendable translation of a joke so far in the manga: how Casey translated the names of the guest characters at the ski resort in chapter 94.

Their names are puns in Japanese as well, and Annie over on Twitter already did a great breakdown of how each of the wordplay in their names was translated, so definitely check out that thread here. Since this chapter has yet to be animated, I'm really curious how the anime translators will handle this…since it seems like they don't reference the manga, they'll probably either translate the names literally or come up with their own pun names, and either will unfortunately lead to the same kind of inconsistencies between the anime and manga translations that I touched on earlier.

To summarize, humor can be a very culture/language specific thing, so it's up to the translator to make sure the same feeling is conveyed in their translation even if they have to essentially make up their own jokes. With that said, it's a shame that there isn't collaboration between the translators of the anime and manga to ensure consistent translations across the franchise. So I hope this post helped shed light, not just on how some of the jokes in SxF were conveyed in Japanese, but also on why some things in the English version of SxF seem inconsistent between the anime and manga.

<- Return to Part 4

[capt-t-leela]

I adore having new futurama episodes, but I do miss some of the animation details that the original run had. I love these little humanizing character moments where they interact with their environments. I haven’t noticed them in the Comedy Central or Hulu era.

Just two small examples I can think of off the top of my head: Leela playing with the salt shaker (and tbh late 1940s table top detail) in Roswell and Fry looking at the crystal ball in The Honking.

Anybody else similar little things?

[neonscandal]

9 Anime to Watch to Feel Like This 👇🏾

The alternative title/concept for this list was "Anime Featuring The Zaddiests of Daddies" but, you know. Consistency or whatever. When I saw the gif, however, I cackled so loud that I figured it still captured The Vibe ✨ (that being #fatherless) Considering this context, some recommendations are slightly longer than the usual bite size serving of 12-24 episodes but you won't regret indulging. Each show is recommended for the plot which is very evident with the teaser gifs. Happy Fathers' Day, you degenerates. And remember, you don't have to have kids to be a Daddy. 😈❤️

Spy x Family (series) - There is something so wholesome about the fate of the world as he knows it relying on how convincingly he can portray a Good Father despite his own origin story. Loid Forger, in a mission to maintain peace, creates the perfect family through any means necessary. Doubt he realized, in doing so, he'd create a home for himself and the oddballs helping to keep up the ruze.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll, Hulu

Buddy Daddies (series) - The life of hitmen Rei Suwa and Kazuki Kurusu get a bit more messy when one of their hits leaves them with a pretty sizable loose end. Regardless of their occupation, their lives change around a little girl and trying to provide as good a home as two, single twenty-something men can. The rest, they'll figure out.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll

My Senpai is Annoying (series) - Very capable working woman finds herself kohai to an older, overly chummy colleague who DEFINITELY does not know how to PDF documents unsupervised. This is a show about their day to day interactions. If you're wondering if Takeda is the only contender in this series, hold out for Futaba's grandfather. Just trust me.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll

Jujutsu Kaisen (series + movie) - *Gestures vaguely to my blog* This show has plenty of compelling reasons to become obsessed. Trying to train strong child soldiers to protect the balance of humans vs curses so they don’t see a grisly demise is just one of them. Not your average shonen, not your average found families.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu

My Hero Academia (series + movies) - Something about kids needing guidance so as not to die while in the pursuit of some great civic duty really creates an environment for some skrunkly father figures. 😘👌🏾 Never mind that the climax of this story is one that tangles generations of families as society adapts to the advent of super powers.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix

Fire Force (series) - in a world where humans can spontaneously combust, Shinra, who is blamed for the fire that killed his mother and younger brother, seeks to overcome the stigma of his power and joins Fire Force Company 8. In training to fight Infernals, he learns to control his pyrokineses under the guidance of many talented fighters while trying to understand the world around him and the invisible hand that manipulates everything.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll, Hulu

Attack on Titan (series) - Unpredictable violence at the vicious jaws of larger than life monsters, the last remaining humans seek refuse behind hallowed walls. Until one day, the day the first wall fell, which made what once provided security feel more like a holding pen ahead of the slaughter. As resources dwindle and the indomitable curiosity of humans persist, the brave minority pushes the boundaries of the walls that house them and seek to uncover the shroud of mystery as of how they found themselves prisoners to titans in the first place.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll, Hulu, Sling TV

Chainsaw Man (series) - Human fears strengthen devils which threaten to overrun the world. Enter the Public Safety Devil Hunters responsible for exterminating devils before they become bigger problems and keeping a bead on larger threats, namely, the Gun Devil. The titular character eventually falls under the supervision of Aki Hayakawa (and later Kishibe *swoon*) who has a strong single-dad-who-works-two-jobs-who-loves-his-kids-and-never-stops type vibe.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll, Hulu

Blue Exorcist (series + movie) - When your dad is Satan, the bar is literally in hell for the man who steps up to raise you. Even so, LOOK AT THE DRIP. There's a narrow line to walk when trying to overcome your own parentage and twin brothers, Rin and Yukio, seek to do so by following in their adoptive father, Shiro Fujimoto's, footsteps despite obvious adversity. Just remember to skip to Season 2 after episode 17 or Google the proper order to watch.

Sub/Dub | Crunchyroll, Hulu

[onlydylanobrien]

‘SNL 1975’ Finds Its Garrett Morris, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase And John Belushi

By Justin Kroll, Anthony D'Alessandro January 30, 2024 10:00am

Lamorne Morris playing Garrett Morris, Dylan O’Brien playing Dan Aykroyd, Cory Michael Smith playing Chevy Chase and Matt Wood playing John Belushi

EXCLUSIVE: Lamorne Morris, Dylan O’Brien, Cory Michael Smith and Matt Wood have joined the cast of Sony Pictures’ SNL 1975 that will be directed by Jason Reitman and based on the real-life behind the scenes accounts of the opening night of Saturday Night Live. Morris will play Garrett Morris, O’Brien will play Dan Aykroyd, Smith will play Chevy Chase, and Wood will play Belushi. The original screenplay is written by Reitman and Gil Kenan.

On October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. SNL 1975 is the true story of what happened behind the scenes that night in the moments leading up to the first broadcast of NBC’s SNL. It depicts the chaos and magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, counting down the minutes in real time to the infamous words, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”

The screenplay is based on an extensive series of interviews conducted by Reitman and Kenan with all the living cast members, writers and crew. Reitman, Kenan, Jason Blumenfeld, Erica Mills and Peter Rice are producing.

Morris can currently be seen in FX’s fifth season of Noah Hawley’s hit drama series Fargo as North Dakota Deputy Witt Farr. He joined the cast of Netflix’s Unstable for season two opposite Rob Lowe. Prior to this, he starred as the titular lead in the hybrid live-action/animated Hulu series Woke, inspired by the life and art of cartoonist Keith Knight.

O’Brien was most recently starring in Ponyboi, which premiered as one of ten films in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Up next, he will be seen in the feature films Caddo Lake, from the writing-directing team of Logan George and Celine Held and producer M. Night Shyamalan, and Anniversary, a thriller co-starring Diane Lane, Kyle Chandler, Zoey Deutch and Phoebe Dynevor. His other credits include Searchlight feature Not Okay from writer-director Quinn Shephard, the critically-acclaimed crime drama The Outfit, opposite Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch, and Johnny Flynn; Paramount’s Love and Monsters and the popular Maze Runner franchise

Best known for his role on as the Riddler on the popular Fox series Gotham, Smith can currently be seen as Julianne Moore’s son in Todd Haynes’ May December. He most recently starred as Varian Fry in Anna Winger’s limited series Transatlantic opposite Gillian Jacobs and Corey Stoll for Netflix. Smith has also worked with Todd Haynes in both Carol (as private investigator Tommy Tucker) and Wonderstruck.

Wood has appeared in the original Broadway cast of Spongebob Squarepants and as husky kid icon Augustus Gloop in the Broadway First National Tour of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Television credits include Law and Order: SVU, Instinct and Difficult People.

Morris is represented by CAA, Entertainment 360, The Lede Company, and Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & Light. O’Brien is repped by William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, Principal Entertainment LA, and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Feldman, Rogal, Shikora & Clark. Smith is repped by Circle of Confusion. Wood is repped by BRS/Gage Talent Agency.

Source: deadline.com

[retrodesis]

Sorry but I really don't understand the Solar Opposites season 5 disappointment.

I thought we were all aware that it’s always been kinda… bad. I mean half the show is just sci-fi bullshit that sounds like it was made up by a bunch of writers “yes, and”-ing each other in front of a whiteboard. The other half is a constant barrage of quippy meta-commentary and pop culture references that I fear will not survive the next half-decade. (And the other, other half is a survival melodrama condensed to fit in between an adult-animated sitcom and the 8 minutes of ads my Hulu basic plan makes me watch for every 30 minutes of television).

There’s… never been a lot of emotional depth going on. Or satisfying character arcs. Or overarching themes and plotlines. But it works! (For me at least.) It’s stupid, but it works. And I think the reason this ridiculous show works so well is because it knows exactly how stupid it wants to be, and does that extremely well. It’s been that way since season one, I think, and hasn’t diminished in quality at all.

Actually, I was pretty thoroughly impressed watching this season. The voice cast has always been stellar but Dan Stevens freaking knocks it out of the park, I still can’t believe how much I prefer his Korvo to Roiland’s. The animation looks the best and most expensive it’s ever been. And personally, I think the further it drifts from its origination as Rick and Morty’s sister show, the more it really comes into its own. Solidifying itself as something so intentionally stupid and corny that it can’t help but be perceived earnestly.

And as far as the fan service. I mean, yeah, it’s there. I was a little surprised to see complaints about it on TUMBLR of all places though. (Come on, guys. We’re the fans being serviced here.) If it was being produced by a show that was trying to be even slightly more respectable, I think I would be annoyed with the pretty drastic shift in Torvo’s dynamic. But as is, the characters have always been off-the-wall and erratic. It changed their dynamic for sure, but I don’t think it changed Terry and Korvo’s characters much, if at all.

And I mean, COME ON. How often does a TV series intend for their two male (adjacent) leads to be completely uninvolved, see that people enjoy imagining a romantic dynamic between them, go “yeah, that does kind of work actually,” and then just fucking RUN with it in the way that Solar Opposites has??? Never. I’ll tell you that never happens. Look, I’m not gonna get on my knees and thank Hulu Streaming for giving us the saving grace of all queer representation, but I think the fact that we’ve come far enough where companies are willing, where Solar Opposites is willing to make gay romance into a joke but not be THEE joke is pretty awesome actually.

[disneytva]

Disney Streaming Snags Streaming Rights For Akira Toriyama's "SandLand - The Series" Anime For Q2, 2024

Disney Streaming has announced a new Japanese anime series called “Sand Land: The Series” inspired by the Akira Toriyama manga series by the same name, The anime will be released on Hulu, Disney+ Worldwide and Star+ LATAM on Spring 2024.

The series is set in a mysterious world where humans and demons coexist, it has been a lifetime since humans ruined the environment and fell into a state of constant war. A parched desert now covers the globe, and water is the most precious resource. The Royal Army, serving under the King, controls the only known source of water. Those transporting the vital fluid through the dry wastelands find themselves beset by demons (who get thirsty too, you know). Among them is Beelzebub, the demon prince, son of Satan himself — and you know Beelzebub is a bad one because he doesn’t respect bedtime, and often doesn’t brush his teeth. When the stern, no-nonsense Sheriff Rao visits the demons’ village, and asks for their help in locating a fabled oasis (thus bypassing the tyrannical king’s control of all remaining water), it’s Beelzebub and the grizzled old demon Thief who join him on this desperate, dangerous quest. They’re not long out of town when their troubles really begin!

“Sand Land” is directed by Toshihisa Yokoshima and Hiroshi Kojina at animation production houses Sunrise, Kamikaze Douga, and Anima Estudios.

[thenightling]

I've just been alerted to the fact that someone bought ALL of Amazon's Over the Garden Wall DVDs (6.99 each) and is now trying to sell them for almost twenty times the original price over on ebay and other re-sale sites.

This is because of the news that Max (formerly HBO Max) will be pulling the mini-series off the streaming service at the end of August. As far as I know you can still stream it on Hulu.

This is why physical media is important. There shouldn't be a panic response and scalping because an animated mini-series was removed from a streaming service.

Over the Garden Wall is an animated mini-series visually inspired by vintage holiday postcards (mostly of Hallowe'en). It's a lot like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz and it has a lot of famous voice actors like Christopher Lloyd, John Cleese, and Tim Curry.

[namitomoon]

Honestly, I think the fact Yugioh isn't popular at all with kids in the West compared to Pokémon needs to be studied.

Most people would (rightfully) blame how overcomplicated the game became compared to the early DM/GX days with all the new meta. But I think part of the blame relies on the way Konami handled the anime too. Both the broadcasting and the core.

I read on the Wiki that Yugioh DM, GX and 5Ds were dubbed by 4Kids and broadcasted it on Saturday morning blocks. When cable and with it the Saturday morning cartoon blocks faded away, 4Kids Entertainment (and their succesor, 4K Media) were very slow in adapting to the new reality. They moved to Nicktoons, then Hulu and then for free on Pluto TV.

Compare this to Pokémon franchise which was pretty much taken away from 4Kids and handled much better by TPC, staying solidly on the same network and then switched to the much more massive and GLOBAL Netflix.

Yugioh has the dubious "honor" of being one of the few remaining anime that still gets localized and dubbed following the heavy censored 4Kids handbooks and I think I finally figured the reason: Konami (who directly handles the dubbing and localization of Yugioh through Konami Cross Media NY, which is basically the remnant of 4Kids) is DESPERATE to build a younger gen Z/Alpha audience on the West.

The average Yugioh player in the West is in their mid 20s who was hooked with the original DM and GX (and maybe also 5Ds). Konami is fine with it but they really wish their game was as popular among kids as the Pokémon TCG is. There's always the fear of the mature audience simply leaving the game because they have bigger responsibilites with work, families, etc. Heck, that's the biggest reason why they didn't bother bringing the physical Rush Duels cards.

Which is why they focus heavily on targetting their shows towards kids. They could perfectly make more loyal-to-the-original teenage/mature focused dubs and broadcast them on Adult Swim or Crunchyroll. But because of their desperation in building a new audience, they instead make kiddified dubs so SEVENS is shown on Disney XD of all places.

[renthony]

Some recs for adult animation I enjoy:

People always seem to think I only watch kids' shows, so here's a list of animated television shows I adore, that were all made with adults in mind:

King of the Hill - Genuinely didn't think I'd like it, but I actually really love it? I expected something that was basically just The Simpsons or Family Guy, but got a surprising amount of emotional depth from the main cast. Bobby Hill is my son boy.

Futurama - I am legally obligated to list Futurama. I have watched the entire series so many fucking times. I'm going to watch the reboot and we all know it.

Disenchantment - It's more than just "Futurama medieval fantasy" but tonally, they are pretty similar. I enjoy it immensely. Bean is a #bicon, and that's fucking canon <3

Samurai Jack - The original show aired as a kids' show, but the revival apparently put it into the adult category. I haven't gotten that far yet, but holy shit, it's so good so far. Even the "kids' show" part is pretty mature, imho.

Bob's Burgers - I fucking love Bob's Burgers. I need to catch up on the more recent seasons. A sitcom that DOESN'T have parents who clearly hate each other? Whaaaat?

Harley Quinn - I'm not caught up, and there are aspects I have critiques of, but overall, it's been fun as fuck. I LOVE this interpretation of Ivy so fucking much.

Metalocalypse - My dad's a metal musician, so this was on in my house all the time when I was a teenager. I haven't watched it in *years* but I still reference the early seasons in conversation constantly. The Duncan Hills will wake you, motherfuckers.

Big Mouth/Human Resources - They are better than you think they are, and the "ugly style" reminds me of classic Klasky-Csupo. Compare it to Rugrats and tell me it doesn't have similar caricature styles. Story-wise, it nails the exact blend of panicked awkwardness I felt as a disaster tween, it has SO MANY queer characters. They dramatically improved on their more problematic aspects after getting called on it in seasons 1 and 2. And Human Resources made me sob like a little baby in the episode with Kieth from Grief.

BoJack Horseman - Starts off as a goofy gross-out humor sitcom but very quickly becomes a serious drama. Incredibly heavy and dark, but holy shit the catharsis. Delves into a lot of musings about morality, celebrity culture and Hollywood, generational trauma, and the perpetuation of cycles.

Tuca & Bertie - Goofy slice-of-life about characters navigating their 30s. Lots of musings about family, trauma, sexual abuse, queer dating in your 30s, friendship, and trying to survive it all. I relate so fucking much to the main cast.

Magical Girl Friendship Squad - It's a magical girl cartoon about milennials. Their magical girl weapons are birth control pills and a bong. It's fucking amazing. I'm really sad nobody else seems to have heard of it. :(

Little Demon - Sitcom about the Devil's daughter. Unsure if it's going to get a season 2, since it's about to get taken completely off of Hulu. Still worth watching if you can, because it's so fucking good. Centers on a teenage girl navigating Being A Teenage Girl while also dealing with her dad being the Devil and her mom being a traumatized mess who's figuring her own shit out.

Q-Force - The advertising did this show so fucking dirty. It was genuinely fucking funny, and it was clearly made with love. This isn't straight people making fun of us, this is queer people making queer comedy. Watch it.

Arcane - Arcane's politics are all over the place and I am in my "Silco Was Right" corner, which is right next to the "Magneto Was Right" clubhouse. But goddamn, the animation is gorgeous and the story is intense.

The Legend of Vox Machina - I haven't watched Critical Role, so I can say with confidence that this show is fucking amazing even if you have zero interest in the original gameplay streams. Fantasy animation for grownups, where they can show blood and titties, my beloved. <3

[gatoraid]

Anime recs for The Radiant Emperor enjoyers

I was watching the new Ooku anime on Netflix some weeks ago and I thought it hit that ”court drama dealing with gender roles and making me cry” spot that He Who Drowned the World has been occupying in my heart lately (even if it engages with some of these themes very differently).

Somehow that got me thinking about other anime that might align with the vibes and themes in The Radiant Emperor book series and eventually came up with this list.

Some of those themes include gender roles, queerness, disability, politics, oppression, rebellion, revenge, impossible and messy relationships and tragedy. Darker themes like war, violence, sexual assault etc are also often present. Please lmk if you agree or disagree with these choices and feel free to add more!

Dororo (2019)

Historical fantasy based on Osamu Tezuka’s manga classic from the 1960s.

An orphan who hides her gender in order to survive meets a young man who fights demons to claim back his body parts that his father traded away in a demonic pact. There’s tons of pain and tough moral questions and complicated family relationships, and the way Hyakkimaru deals with having lost and then slowly regaining parts of himself is super interesting.

24 episodes. Stream on Prime Video, Hidive

The Heike Story (2022)

Retelling of the historical epic Heike monogatari through the eyes of an orphan girl who gains the ability to see supernatural things after her father’s passing. Inevitability of fate, the impermanence of all existence, praying for your loved ones’ happiness in the next life, all of these things are beautifully woven in this visually stunning story. The story also hits different when you know that Heike monogatari was traditionally performed by blind musicians and singers.

11 episodes. Stream on Cruncyroll, Apple TV

Inu-oh (2022)

Historical fantasy. Two outcasts find each other and change the history with their music in this story that also pays respect to the Heike monogatari’s origin as a singing tradition. Focus on things like identity, disability, nonconformity, ghosts. Yes, the ghosts part is important. Also, the gender expressions and the bond between the two main characters is something I’ve seen a lot of queer/trans ppl relate to and Inu-oh is voiced by none other than the trans icon Avu-chan.

Movie. Stream on Hulu

Ōoku: The Inner Chambers (2023)

Alternate history where most men in Japan have been wiped out by a mysterious disease. Very much a court drama centered in the Tokugawa shogun’s residence where men serve the woman shogun as concubines (and sometimes have relationships with each other). Also, one of the main characters is a monk who ends up giving up his vows! Based on Fumi Yoshinaga’s acclaimed manga that has also been adapted to various live action movies and drama series.

10 episodes. Stream on Netflix

Toward the Terra (2007)

Scifi classic with two main characters who are at the opposing sides but feel inexplicably connected. There’s just so many insane relationships and emotions here, I still have not recovered from the ”I want to kill you but I will also protect you with my own life” thing…… Based on the 1970s manga by Keiko Takemiya. Not to be confused with the movie from 1980.

24 episodes. Available on DVD

Devilman Crybaby (2018)

Apocalyptic fantasy with demons and stuff. Based on the classic 1970s manga by Go Nagai.

I don’t even know how to describe the story, it’s just the tragedy, the queer yearning, the ”I killed the one I loved and then it was too late”, the ”things will get bad and then they will get worse” vibe that I think is very fitting. This one has the most extreme violent and sexual content out of the series on this list.

10 episodes. Stream on Netflix

Banana Fish (2018)

Gang wars, mystery drugs and complicated emotions set in New York. Based on the iconic 1980s manga by Akemi Yoshida. Deals heavily with trauma and CSA.

You guessed right, this one is also a tragedy. If you love Ouyang and/or Baoxiang, you’re probably going to love Lee Yut-Lung. That’s all I’m going to say.

24 episodes. Stream on Amazon Prime