We're BACK! An anime story
Welcome to Otaku Ryuho on the Geek Therapy Network. Here at Geek Therapy, we believe that the best way to understand each other and ourselves to the media we care about. Here on Otaku Ryuho, we are all about the manga and the anime. My name is Josué Cardona, and I am joined by my cohost, Rae Hoover.
Rae:Howdy.
Josué:Rae. Five years later, Otaku Ryo rises from the ashes. If this episode sees publication, welcome. If you've listened to us before, this is I'm not even gonna say an episode number because I think there might be some lost episodes in between, and I'm not gonna promise anything about them ever seeing the light of day. But we did around 20 episodes a while back with former co host, Gian Ramos.
Josué:May he rest in peace. He's not dead, but he's dead to me.
Rae:May he rest well on his well earned hiatus.
Josué:And so, if this is the first time you're listening to us, this is welcome. Like I said at the beginning, this is Aiky Therapy's anime and manga podcast. At Geek Therapy, we are a nonprofit organization that advocates for the use of geek and gaming culture in mental health work, in health care, in community work. And a big part of what we do is through these podcasts, we have conversations that I think we all think hopefully, and you agree listener, that are helpful conversations to have regarding media that is that we think is important and helpful. We're not here necessarily to critique media, we're talking about it more in the sense of how can we use it to have meaningful conversations that can lead to understanding.
Josué:And we've had many shows over the years. I'm excited about bringing Otaku Ryuho back because it is it was one of my favorite shows to do. We've had many, and it's been a while. Like I said, it's been five years since we published the last episode. For accountability sake, Rae, we are, today is 03/31/2026.
Josué:Let's see when this episode actually comes out.
Rae:Wow. The laser sight is on me. I'm being doxxed.
Josué:Alright. So I'm the president and founder of Iggy Therapy. And so I've again, I've I've been on the show before. You can learn way too much about me as I was listening to those episodes. Wow.
Josué:I shared a lot. By listening
Rae:to a few episodes. Yeah.
Josué:Yeah. Yeah. And so who are you, Rae?
Rae:That is the real question. My name is I'm an enigma wrapped in a mystery and I'm just gonna smoke bomb out of here. No. I am I am Rae. I am a licensed professional counselor in the I was going to say sarcastically wonderful, but, the state of Pennsylvania.
Rae:It's certainly a time here. I have come into, the Geek Therapy organization. Basically I presented at last year's TAGGS. And then afterwards I was like, Hey, I really love this. Let me in to do things and Josué was like, okay, here you go.
Rae:Here's the keys to some podcasts. And I'm like, yo, okay, let's go. And now I'm kind of the self titled director of the GT network. I'm now producing the podcasts here. I've been working for the last what, six months plus on, getting through the old backlog of unpublished episodes of, GT Radio.
Rae:And I think that was mainly it was mainly that, but there was, a two year backlog on GT Radio. And then we were doing doing a whole bunch of
Josué:Shhhh, they don't need to know that. You don't need to share that.
Rae:You @-ed me. I'm @-ing you. It's fine. So yeah, there was a big old backlog that I conquered and we were doing some other stuff on the back end just to kind of like streamline and efficiency the process.
Rae:And, yeah, Josué's like, this is awesome. You, you get, you get a title now. So here we are. And, we're bringing this back.
Josué:We do need help and you are helping us. That is fantastic.
Rae:I've come into this space and I'm like, let's go people just banging pots and pans together. Like wake up, let's, let's do something. I tend to do that and Josué is a rare kind of person to match my energy with that. So it's been really satisfying doing this here and I'm happy to be here.
Josué:So and why why an anime podcast? Why THE anime podcast?
Rae:I just apparently cannot stop yapping about One Piece. I I have done, like I said, my, TAGGS presentation last year was on One Piece. My TAGGS presentation this year, shocking everyone, is also on One Piece. It's not like my favorite, well, I don't know. I AM relatively normal about it.
Josué:Let's hold on to that thought. That's so weird to me. We're gonna revisit that in a second. So, so TAGGS, the Therapeutic and Applied Geek and Gaming Summit, which we do every year. It is our annual conference.
Josué:You presented last year. One Piece, we talked about One Piece. Originally, we thought about or we discussed an entire One Piece podcast
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:Which with over a thousand episodes of the manga, which over a thousand I mean, a thousand issues of the manga, a thousand episodes of the anime, and two live action seasons on Netflix, There's plenty there.
Rae:Yeah.
Josué:But we we decided to bring back Otaku Ryuho instead. And I'm I I think you will get to know Rae more as we as we continue to have a discussion. This is very much a, like, reestablishing the show. Right?
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:So I think my my hope, right, is that if you're listening to this, maybe you fall in one or two camps, either you are a huge anime fan already, you know, you're an Otaku. Otaku is like geek in in Japanese. I believe that Otaku Ryoho is a direct translation of the words geek and therapy. I don't know if it works the same way in terms of meaning and context in Japanese. Nobody has told us that it doesn't yet.
Rae:If you if you're listening and you speak Japanese, send us an email.
Josué:Please. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so there's a lot to cover in anime in general. I love anime has always been a huge part of my life. And I think since we started recording the show, it has only become a bigger part.
Josué:And I, I fall into the Otaku bucket, right? And then the other group of people would be if you are not an anime geek, you don't consider yourself an Otaku, or a weeb, depending on how old you are. And you want to learn about not just anime in general. Hopefully, this episode can be kind of a reintroduction to not so much what anime is, but more on maybe the state of anime now, in a way, from our perspectives. Mhmm.
Josué:And I mean that not in like state of the industry, but just like what's popular, what we're into, and like what what you can expect. Maybe popular things that we are not into. Like, yeah. If you listen to all the episodes from many years ago, I had not watched One Piece. Mhmm.
Josué:I have since watched all of One Piece, including the live there was no live action show five years ago. No. It wasn't even announced. And I am I am now very familiar with one piece. And so you fall in one of those two buckets.
Josué:Hopefully the conversations here are either fun and enlightening for you as a fan of anime who is interested in learning about other types of anime and how you can use it in your work and how you can use it in in practice. And if you are already interested in using something like this, but you don't know much about anime, welcome. And so I think I'm just gonna interview you a little bit. And I'm gonna start with, first, a comment. I thought the one piece was your favorite, but I guess I was mistaken based on what you just said.
Rae:It's it's definitely my favorite.
Josué:It is. Okay.
Rae:I guess like, there's moments. I was just at a con, what, last weekend? Something like that? Zen Kai kon. Shout out to my home con there.
Rae:And I do like a very, very casual cosplay of Ace, who is absolutely my favorite character. I have a tarot card tattoo on my forearm that is themed around Ace and stuff like that. And I must look insane when I'm in cosplay. And then also have, and I have the Straw Hat X. I have the tarot card.
Rae:I have a little spade there as well. I must look absolutely insane. And like in that context, I'm, I'm not actually insane. I do have other interests and stuff like that. But I I realize a lot of this time it kinda gets funneled into kind of in a a meme personality of like, yep, this is the only thing on my brain ever.
Rae:But I do I do contain multitudes and dimensions, in fact. Allegedly.
Josué:So so to be clear, One Piece is your favorite anime.
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:Is it your favorite property? Like, period? Like, it your favorite? Like, what is your favorite fandom or your favorite world?
Rae:So in one thing listeners will learn about me very quickly, because I'm just I'm very open about it. I have raging ADHD. So Raging. Raging. Truly.
Josué:Yes,
Rae:it is. It is a sight to behold. So I will be like into a thing for a while. And then I like remember that something else exists. And then I'm like, just fully pivoting to that for a little while that can last like hyper fixation interests for me can last anywhere from hours to I have maintained some for years.
Rae:I learned how to do that as a child because undiagnosed and I was like, well, I need something to keep me going. So I kept that going for many, many years. I learned how to just essentially shovel the coal into the the furnace of the train in my brain. And so I can I can hold on to things for a very long time or a very short time? It's like, well, does this spark joy anymore?
Rae:Nope. Okay. Time to do something else.
Josué:Okay. I'm I'm you haven't actually answered the question yet.
Rae:Aw, shit.
Josué:And and I'm going to and and so this but this is great. This is great.
Josué:I'm gonna take this opportunity to I mean, this is this is geek therapy. Right? This is the type of conversations I want us to have. And this is really interesting because I think and I do this too, and I always recommend that people do this. When you have a new client, you should ask them, what are they what are you into?
Rae:Mhm!
Josué:think that there are different ways to do that. And I and I have seen so many times that I've experienced it when someone asks you, what is your favorite? And it is a very difficult question to answer. It can almost like it can be anxiety inducing. Right?
Josué:Like, you're put on the spot, and depending on your level of ADHD, autism, anxiety, a number of different things. Right? Like, it could it, like, it could mess you up for a bit. Yeah. That question.
Josué:It's like, well, I have to actually answer. What is it? I haven't thought about this. I need to come like, what if I say it? And then it's not actually my favorite.
Josué:Like, right? Like, all of these things might go, through your head. So so that helps me to reminds me to be a little bit more mindful about answering that question. Because I understand. I was as you were as you were not answering the question.
Rae:You will have to corral me. This is a good reminder for both of us.
Josué:As you were not answering the question, I was thinking, wait a minute, like lately, I'm not sure what my favorites are either. Because I do think that when you're in that hyperfixation time period, which I would say that there there are probably multiple definitions on what that is. Right? Meaning, like, there might be some research clinical definitions for hyperfixation. There might be different schools of thought, but also us hyperfixation for me might be very different than hyperfixation for you.
Josué:Yeah. I would like to think that we're we understand each other when we say that, but it may not be to the same degree.
Rae:Yeah.
Josué:And so, like right now, my hyper fixation is trading card games. Right? We've talked about this. It is. It is.
Josué:It is incredible.
Rae:He's horribly in debt. He lives in a ditch. He has given all his money to Gundam TCG. I'm absolutely kidding.
Josué:It's a it's a they're made of cardboard, so you can build things with it, like a roof over your head.
Rae:You just made a house out of your cards.
Josué:Yep. Yep.
Rae:That's fair. Have a nice day.
Josué:Yeah. So that's a hyperfixation. But like when it comes to anime, we'll see if I let you answer the question if I don't keep rambling. Recently, I was talking about the anime Frieren.
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:And I said, like, oh, I'm rewatching season one of Frieren, Beyond Journey's End, because it's my favorite. And my friend asked, like, your favorite what? And I was like, yeah. I think it's just like my favorite story, period. In the moment, it feels that way.
Rae:Yeah.
Josué:Right? Whether that's whether that's true or not or whether it lasts whether it transcends time is I don't think it really matters. Right? Ultimately, doesn't matter. But at the time it felt that way.
Josué:Right? I was like, I don't think I could put anything else above it right now. But if we really start listing things, there's probably a whole bunch of stuff that I that I like or like even more. Yeah. But as of right now, it is it is I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
Josué:I'm really into it. And I can't think of anything that, like, resonates with me more than that story. I think it has to do with my age. I think it has to do with life experiences. It has to do with a lot of things.
Josué:And so Frieren Beyond Journey's End is an anime that I highly recommend, and I I really, really, really like it. I mean, I mean, like, it's all about reflecting on the past. Right? And so but I I just think it's beautiful, and I love it. Mhmm.
Josué:So I will I will ask the question again. But, again, with the understanding that, like, you are not going to be held to this answer. You can change your mind by the end of this episode. You can change your mind next week. Like, it's fine.
Josué:But like, put on the spot right now, what would you consider your top anime? Like, it doesn't have to be one. It can be two or three. Like, what are your favorite anime series?
Rae:So I've I've actually been thinking about this since we were, like, getting gearing up to to record. If I don't put things in my internal brain RAM, then I blank. And I'm like, well, I've never watched anything ever. So with some forethought here, One Piece, My Hero Academia, and Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Those are my top three.
Rae:Maybe in that order, maybe not. I don't know.
Josué:Yeah. The order I'm not gonna hold you to the order either. It's okay. Good. Those I like those three very much.
Josué:I think that I've never had one piece at the top in my top series.
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:But it is it is interesting that I'm again, I'm playing card games, so I'm gonna bring it up a lot because it is my current hyperfixation.
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:And I compare it to everything. But there are many different card games with different IPs. And it's funny because, like, I would say, I I love Dragon Ball more than I love One Piece.
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:And I and I definitely love Dragon Ball more than I love Gundam. But I'm only playing the Gundam card game now, even though Bandai has one for each of like, for for Dragon Ball and One Piece.
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:I think I know, as much as I'm a fan, I consider myself a fan. I really love and enjoy the Gundam universe and shows. I think I know the one piece world better.
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:Right? Like, it's, I think, but it, you know, like, it's it's a there's it's interesting. But those are those are I think those are good choices. If somebody hasn't watched those, I think the you should check them out. And they are top on a lot of people's lists.
Rae:Mhmm. And I I will say, I've watched season one of Frieren. I'm waiting for season two to finish airing, if I like to get all of them out at once, and then just kind of tear through them. Absolutely adore Frieren. Like, you told me to watch it essentially.
Rae:You highly recommended it. We started it. I loved it. So that is that's very high up there. That is magnificent.
Rae:It is so beautiful. It is so tell like like touching story wise and like there's, there's there's so much that I can just like feast upon with it. And I'm I'm so excited to keep going with it. So solid rec.
Josué:Yeah. I I think I think it's a very special show. And there's a lot of anime. There's so much anime. I don't think there's so much.
Josué:Japan's not that big. How are they producing so much anime? This all the time. It's crazy.
Rae:They've been doing it for so long. It's just a well oiled machine at this point.
Josué:So good. Just so many good things. So so what are you watching now? Like, what is the current state of your anime life?
Rae:Currently, what are we watching right now? I say we, me and my my spouse and I. We watch all this stuff together mostly. We started Demon Slayer the other week.
Josué:Ooooh
Rae:we've been watching Eva. He he's really getting into Eva, actually. So, like, he likes it a lot.
Josué:You're watching the show.
Rae:The show?
Josué:Neon Genesis- Neon Genesis Evangelion, the the series.
Rae:Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It's actually the original dub is what we got ahold of.
Josué:Oh, awesome. Woah.
Rae:Yeah. Okay. Like the the '95 dub. So it's it's a little it's a little wonky, but it's it's really solid so far. We just met met, Asuka.
Josué:So I, I shamed you
Rae:Yes.
Josué:Into watching, Eva. Yeah. I'm glad it's working out.
Rae:He shamed me about a lot of things.
Josué:We'll get to that. We'll get to a few more. Okay, so you're watching Eva, which is from the nineties. You're watching Demon Slayer, which is about five years old or so. So it's like within the last five years, it's still running the the the manga is done, but it is one of the like, currently, I I think it's, like, the biggest in in some metric.
Josué:I don't remember what the metric was. It is huge
Rae:I think it was in a movie.
Josué:Yeah. Yeah. Like, the movies have made, like, it's it's crazy. Just like in Japan, Damian Slayer is a huge, huge deal.
Rae:Yeah. It was the one movie that came out actually dethroned Spirited Away as, like, the top grossing Japanese film ever or something like that. Like it I forget the exact metric. But if nothing touched it-
Josué:Yeah. I'm not gonna fact check you, but I believe you. I know it's something like that. Yeah. Yeah.
Josué:Yeah. Yeah. I know. I don't I don't remember the specifics, but it is like demon slayer is a huge deal. So I I think I think you're coming in at a good time.
Josué:It's probably like, the manga is done if you really wanna finish the story. The anime is gonna take a couple probably another two years to finish, I think.
Rae:But Yeah.
Josué:But there's there's it's good it's good stuff. It's beautiful.
Rae:Yeah. There it's it's kinda hard to think about, like, the other ones that I'm currently watching, because a lot of times, it's like, okay, I'm caught up, and I'm waiting for the next season to drop, or I'm waiting for the next season to, like, come out (fully). There's way more of those That's like when that comes back, it'll be like, oh, yeah. Okay. Time for this again.
Rae:Vigilantes is one of those.
Josué:My Hero Academia, Vigilantes.
Rae:Yes. Yeah. The, Christian name of it.
Josué:This is gonna this is gonna work out great.
Rae:Yeah. This is gonna be fun. Yeah. So so Vigilantes is one of those.
Rae:Again, I'm blanking. I've never watched anything in my life.
Josué:We talked about writing some some of this stuff down. Did you not write anything down?
Rae:I did! I don't remember if I updated it!
Josué:Alright. Well well, that that that that's good. Like, we'll we'll keep touching on different ones. I can tell you, I've been watching Frieren. I am watching season two.
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:I'm watching Jujutsu Kaizen.
Rae:Oh, yeah. That was one we were waiting for that to finish, like airing.
Josué:Yeah. So that season's going now. I'm watching multiple Gundam shows because as I'm I think I mentioned, I've been playing a lot of card games, primarily the Gundam card game, and they keep introducing series. And some of them I haven't watched in a long time. And, like, one of them, I watched two YouTube recaps of the two series.
Josué:And then a new movie came out last year. So I I I've been watching the movie. I've been watching some shows that I never watched, that, like, never came to The US. And it's been watching multiple Gundam shows. For the for those who are interested, I'm specifically in the middle of After War Gundam X.
Josué:I just wrapped double o and the movie. I'm I just wrapped the the two recaps were Gundam Seed and Destiny, and I'm watching Freedom, which is the movie. And I think those are the ones I'm, yeah, in the middle of right now. And there's a lot more.
Rae:Yeah.
Josué:I think oh, I forgot the number now. I think it was 85 different properties in, like, between movies and shows.
Rae:Good God.
Josué:I believe I think that number is right. It's either now now I'm now I'm doubting myself. It was either 45 or 85. I think it was 85.
Rae:I feel like it's gotta be 85. There's so much Gundam.
Josué:It's forty five years worth, and there's lots of different shows. And then and they counted every like, some of the shows have gotten recap movies. Like, the original series got three recap movies. So that's four. Right? That counts as four.
Rae:That makes sense.
Josué:Plus the prequel series is five. Plus the lost episode that they remitted to a movie is six. So from just the original show from 1979, there's six. So yeah, it's probably 85.
Rae:Yeah. If that's how they're counting it, a hundred percent eighty five.
Josué:Yeah. Yeah. Stuff keeps coming out. So I've been watching I've been watching those. And really, those are the only anime that I'm, like, currently in the middle of like, now.
Josué:If something finished the season recently, I'm also blanking on anything that I watched recently. I technically, I am in the middle of vigilantes because I started watching it immediately after I finished the show. And I've been and I've told people multiple times last in the last two weeks that when I I cried so much during the last, like, five episodes of My Hero Academia. And So good. It was pretty good.
Josué:Yep. So yeah. And there's a few shows that I'm, like, in the middle of, like, I'm still in one one punch man season three. And then there's just a whole bunch of shows that I am I do keep current on. And I'm I'm not gonna go into all of them because it's probably it's probably a lot.
Rae:Yeah. Mhmm.
Josué:And I did try to rewatch Brotherhood, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood because I'm I'm way overdue for a rewatch. And I'm currently in Spain. And in Spain, Netflix only has the Japanese dub.
Rae:Oh.
Josué:Like the original Japanese language. And so it's only subtitled in English, and I am a dub person.
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:And they don't even have a Spanish dub. I would watch a Spanish dub.
Josué:I don't know if I don't know if for full metal, I do because I remember the voices. Like, if it's a new show, I might I might do a Spanish dub. But, yeah, I really want to, but I haven't watched it in years. I I
Rae:Can't believe they're gatekeeping you.
Josué:I'm I'm itching for some Fullmetal Alchemist.
Rae:Honestly, I can I could do a rewatch too? It's been it's been a little while since I watched it, and it's just it's so good, and I would absolutely watch it again. Oh, Dungeon Meshi is another one that I'm like waiting for the next season to come out. Love Dungeon Meshi.
Josué:I watched a few episodes. I don't I wouldn't count that I'm in the middle of it, even though I am. I'm I don't I'll go back to it at some point. But
Rae:It didn't grab you?
Josué:It it did not. And it did not. I enjoyed the episodes that I saw, but I was, like, I I didn't binge through it. You know, like, watched an episode halfway through the other one. Like, so you mentioned ADHD before.
Josué:I don't know what yours looks like. Actually, I do know what yours looks like.
Rae:Yeah, you do.
Josué:Mine, you know, I have I have a few things that happen. So if I'm in the middle of an episode, and I just have a thought, I will just like stop the episode, move on to do something else. Yep. And I may never come back. That happens all the time.
Josué:But stuff and just like equally, I will hyper fixate and then need to finish the show. So that was not one where I like, was completely in there. I mean, if you listen to the slice of life episodes, right? Like, slice of like, I I consider Dungeon Meshi a slice of life. Oh.
Josué:And right? I I don't I don't know if you would agree with that.
Rae:I've never heard that categorization for it, but I can see the argument for it and against it, honestly.
Josué:To me, it's it's like, oh, it's like, well, they're just it's not like an it's an adventure in this sense, but it's like, oh, he's literally, like, cooking every episode. Right? Like, it really is like a day in the life of the cook of a party. Right? Of a of a dungeon.
Rae:How many how many episodes did you watch?
Josué:Maybe I didn't get far enough. Yeah. Didn't get far enough.
Rae:In the first season, there is a moment and there's a there's a very
Josué:Transition?
Rae:Yeah. It's like a a total tonal shift.
Josué:Okay. Well, I didn't get to that point. So Yeah. That's good to know. That that makes me want to, go back and and get to that point.
Rae:Yeah. It everything gets a little bit more serious and like the stakes are there and then it's like, oh, okay. We understand what we're doing here now. Okay. The adventuring aspect reminds me of Frieren in a lot of ways.
Josué:Mhmm. It is a party of heroes and dungeon. Yeah. It's very fantasy traditional fantasy tropes. Yeah.
Rae:Yeah. Yeah. It's a, you know, a de- branded D and D, you know, party, essentially, like most anime.
Josué:Well, yeah, like that. But to me, it's like right. If if as a point of reference, I would usually use Lord of the Rings. Right? As being like, oh, like, you got this party.
Josué:And then the what makes Tendermeshri special, at least my understanding of it until to where I've watched, is that food is a very big deal. Not in the sense that, like, for the hobbits, food is a big like, he like, he's finding and cooking creatures in the dungeon. Right? It's like Mhmm. At the very beginning.
Josué:And then with Frieren, it's like, imagine if the story started after Frodo, know, Frodo's adventure. Right? And it's like, he starts a new adventure and is just constantly reflecting and learning from, like, the past. Right? So it's like, those are like different angles to it.
Josué:It's not just a straightforward fantasy adventure.
Rae:Exactly. Exactly. And a lot of the theming on Dungeon Meshi is like, you know, it's a privilege of the living to eat and, you know, you need to eat to survive and stuff like that. It's actually been a huge thing, like, in the geek therapy sense for helping folks who struggle with eating. You know, whether it just be from executive dysfunction or, you know, like food sensitivities and or or like sensory issues or something like that.
Rae:Reminding people- or eating disorders, disordered eating, however you wanna frame it, reminding people that, yeah, they need to take care of themselves. They can replace the voice in their head telling them to not eat with Senshi. Like, that's actually been a a really popular application there. Something that the voice actor, Sungwon, has talked about. Like, he hears that from a lot of people about about that role specifically.
Rae:It's like, yeah, Senshi helps me, like, take care of myself.
Josué:That's so interesting because there there's a there's like a it's not a meme. Right? But, like, people talk about anime food and how like beautiful it is in Ghibli movies and Beautiful. Ghibli movies and then like, there's something about that. But in and we'll get to this.
Josué:You and I mostly partake in shonen. Yeah. I think is is like our favorite. And in shonen, people usually just stuffing their faces so they can recharge for the next battle. Mhmm.
Josué:Right? It's usually that or it's a celebratory thing. But again, the protagonists are just shoving their faces. Right? It's all that is a trope for sure.
Josué:Uh-huh. And so very rarely, I mean, very rarely. I don't. Only in food wars. Have you watched food wars?
Rae:I have not watched food wars. I did listen to that episode somewhat recently, actually.
Josué:Oh, yeah. So so Food Wars is a horny. Okay? Yes. In many ways. But but
Josué:it is also extremely it it is there is a love of food. Right? And and in a way it is almost educational. Right? More so than than Dungeon Meshi, I think because Dungeon Meshi is very the food is fictional in a way.
Josué:Right? Where way more fictional in the sense of like you're cooking up like mythical creatures and stuff, right, that you're finding in a in a dungeon where
Rae:There are comparisons to real food and like how that's cooked and prepared and stuff too. Yeah.
Josué:But but Food Wars is like, we like actually goes into, like, they're naming the tools and the ingredients and the style and what country it comes from. Like, it is it is almost educational. Right? Like, think I think I talked about that in a in a in an episode of a recent episode five years ago of Otaku Ryuho. And so but but there is a a like, if you if you have disordered eating or right?
Josué:You avoid talking about about food. I I I do agree. Those two shows actually food is a character in in the in the stories. Mhmm. And there are meaningful conversations around them.
Josué:I liked in the episodes that I saw of Dundra Meshie where there's like, they also touch on the cultural aspect, right? When they visit different places, like what it means to the people, why things are prepared a certain way. So yeah, no, no, I'm really glad you brought that up. That's cool.
Rae:Are you aware of like that crossover manga with the, the mangaka of food wars, but doing a Sanji manga?
Josué:Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Rae:Might have it over there. Like
Josué:Yeah.
Rae:Just out of reach. But so, like, I'm familiar with Food Wars just from, if nothing else, that exposure. And then it was like, oh, he yeah. This this author does Food Wars. And then it's like, Looking into that, I'm like, that seems like a lot.
Rae:But I'm willing to give it a try. You you talked very highly about it, so I'm definitely willing to give it a try and and meeting it where it's at.
Josué:It is one of my favorite Shonen. Like it is it is it is crazy to call it a Shonen, but it is 100% like there are there are tournaments. Are
Rae:Of course.
Josué:It's literally called Food Wars, right? Like at the school, they declare Food Wars and they compete.
Josué:And it is great. It is so good. It is. I I really like that show. I like that show so much.
Josué:It's, yeah, it's a lot of fun. Okay. Okay. So Dungeon Meshi. Okay.
Josué:Okay. Alright. So so why did I shame you into watching Eva? Why is that accurate?
Rae:Because a lot of the stuff that I had mentioned that I had watched, it was like not recent.
Josué:We're missing some of the classics. I thought. That that's part of it.
Rae:Yeah. And I I like I love Pacific Rim is my favorite movie. I love mechas and everything that goes into the experience of being a pilot. So Eva was always on my radar. It just and I never had the opportunity really to watch it or the like, I never saw it while scrolling one of the one of my million fucking services.
Rae:I'm sorry if we're not supposed to swear here.
Josué:That's up to you. I I we can. If you want to bleep it out, it's your job now.
Rae:I absolutely will forget. So Yep. Fair enough. But yeah, like I never saw it, and I I had heard stuff about like, oh, the Netflix version, and I was like, ehhhh that's too much work already. So yeah, you shaming me into it absolutely led me to actually watching it.
Rae:And I really I'm really enjoying it, honestly. I really like it. There
Josué:were a few things, which I won't bring up now, that you said in one of our conversations where it was like, oh, I heard a I heard a a thing about it. And then I I never thought, like, then I I decided I'm not gonna watch it. Right? Or like and I was like, oh, but like, you should like, you should give it a chance. Like, that's I don't I don't I don't know that that's necessarily true or, like, that's probably not as true as you think it is.
Rae:You know, the funny part is I don't even remember what that hot take was.
Josué:There were so many that day.
Rae:Yeah. Look, I have grown as a person a lot since that conversation. Like, I'll be like, not even as as a bit fully. I have, like, really sat down and examined myself and been like,
Josué:oh, I'm okay. So sorry.
Josué:No. No. Just I needed this. Like, you're helping me. I I'm I I like to describe myself as a natural born hater. And I've learned over year the years that people don't like being around a natural born hater Because if you start hating on something that people actually like, that sucks. That sucks to be the person who likes the thing that's getting hated on.
Rae:And I realized that's not who I wanna be. And that being a natural born hater is kind of a default mode that I have fallen into to protect some of my own vulnerability. It's like, oh, I didn't find this interesting or I, you know, I'm struggling to try to watch this. I like this. I don't like this.
Rae:That's always been kind of hard for me to actually like verbalize. So it's easier for me to be like, I heard this was weird for ABC reason, so whatever. And treating it as an objective fact and less of a, no, this is actually an opinion that I might hold. You actually calling me out on that has been helpful, genuinely helpful. I realized a lot of these things that I was having these ridiculous, oh, I heard this about whatever show takes, I need to meet these things where they are.
Rae:I need to lower my expectations, and I I will name and shame myself about I've never watched I've never finished Cowboy Bebop because I found it boring. And Yeah. I struggled to get through it. My spouse also struggled to get through it. We're like the only two people on the planet who have not actually been able to finish Cowboy Bebop.
Rae:And I realized a lot of my my own expectations around that maybe being influenced by modern anime being a lot more action packed, and that's holding my attention more. But when I went into Cowboy Bebop, I was like, this is so slow. Like, what is why does everyone like this? This is so this is a nothing sandwich. And that's not actually what I think about it.
Rae:I wanna actually give it another try because I need to meet it where it's at. And like recognize it's not gonna be a shonen. It's going to be what it is. And it is beloved for that reason. And I like things like Firefly.
Rae:I love Firefly. It's compared to that a lot, like a Space Western kind of thing.
Josué:Firefly is kind of similar. Yeah. A lot similar.
Rae:If I went into it more with that expectation of this is gonna be like Firefly, and it's not gonna be like, you know, Jujutsu Kaizen or something. Okay. Yeah. Like, I needed to manage my own expectations there. So I I I'm calling it now.
Rae:I'm I'm going to give it another shot because of this podcast. You have helped me grow as a person. Thank you.
Josué:I'm I'm I mean, I'm I'm I'm saying shaming right in a
Rae:Yeah. We're jokes.
Josué:I'm we're joking. Yeah. Yeah.
Josué:Yeah. I think it's it's it's exaggeration. I did question some of your takes.
Rae:Yeah.
Josué:And but I will challenge them. Right? And and and, like, just like you said. Right? It's like, oh, well, like because something something you just said is is really interesting.
Josué:You're, like, natural born hater. They that's that label you're you're using. Is it easier if something like, is it does that just make it easier to dismiss things? Because, like, when there's a like, this isn't it's like they have to it's like splitting. Right?
Josué:Like, idea of like, oh, I know it's bad. Right? Like, now it's up to you to prove to me that it's good, and that's gonna be really hard because my default is negative. Is that is that accurate? Like, kinda
Rae:That's little bit of it. Yeah. It's it's a lot easier to hate on something and think it's weird and like poke fun at it. Even if even if I mean it in a humorous, like lighthearted way, it's it's vulnerability to like something openly.
Josué:Yeah.
Rae:And, you know, if someone especially with anime, and we're we're millennials, firmly millennials, you'll you're a little bit older than me. But
Josué:Still a millennial. You don't have to get to specifics about how much older or not. It doesn't matter.
Rae:I'm not I'm not @-ing you. I promise. It's it's it's because of, like, context around your experience and my experience. I'm a little bit younger. So my exposure to anime was through Toonami, like very heavily that that was that was it.
Rae:And then when that vanished, I was still a kid. So I couldn't go out and buy anime. I didn't know that you could get it anywhere. I didn't know that these things were anime at the time. That took a lot longer.
Rae:I know that was discussed on the first episode with Gian then. But the Pokemon being anime? No, was just a cartoon from Japan. But yeah. Back then, there was a lot of shame around liking anime.
Rae:Oh, you were weird. You were a pervert. You're, like, automatically labeled as, like, the weird kid, or there's something like, there's something creepy about you if you like anime. And a lot of folks in my generation that I've noticed, and this is something I definitely struggled with, was that perception. And it caused a lot of us to feel very shameful around our interest in in anime.
Rae:And a 100% that was that was me. There were definitely times of the, like, my family members being like, what the heck is this? Like, why are they screaming so much watching Dragon Ball Z? I didn't stop liking it, but I started watching it when they weren't home after that. So it kinda became this, like, secret thing that I had to engage in.
Rae:And I absolutely forgot how I got all this train of thought. But oh, yeah. That liking something is vulnerability. So I'm
Josué:It's easier to hate on stuff.
Rae:It's easier to hate on stuff. And I realized I became the person who forced me into feeling shameful around liking things in general, whether that be anime or or anything. And I was like, I that is not that is not who I wanna be. That is not aligning with my self-concept here. So we're gonna change that.
Josué:Yeah. And and being a hater is, like, very anti GT.
Rae:Yeah.
Josué:And, like, literally, right? Like, when we when we when we teach, when we do our workshops, when we do the show, It is there have been episodes that I haven't published across like a thousand podcast episodes that were recorded over the years because someone just like, hated on something so much. And I was like, that's not our tone. Right? Like, that's not what we're here to do.
Josué:You don't you don't have to like it. Right? Like, I I hear you. Like, it's funny because when we've talked about Shonen, like, I think definitely we there's there's an affinity for Shonen. The excitement, the high octane energy is just like fast.
Josué:It's crazy. It's funny. Right? Like, it's it's huge. It's intense.
Josué:And yeah, there are shows that are not like that. Like, Frieren is not- Frieren has its moments. Yeah. But Frieren- Frieren- Frieren takes its time. Right?
Josué:I think it's badass moments are very badass. Yeah. But still, it is it is not a shonen. The food wars is a 100%. Like food wars is more up your alley than Dungeon Meshi.
Josué:Trust me. Like, a 100%.
Rae:Ironically enough.
Josué:If we're if we're talking about food anime. And so, like, I I can understand if that's just how we're wired. Those are our preferences. I can see certain shows like Eva, like Cowboy Bebop, not feeling that fast.
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:My dad my dad, for example, I'll use him as an example. He he loves action movies. Right? And to him, a movie is good or bad, depending on how much action it has. Right.
Josué:And so he'll be like, oh, it was okay. It was kind of slow, you know? And but the movie could be considered garbage by everybody in the world. Right? But if it had enough fight scenes in it, he liked it.
Josué:And he's like, he'll fast forward through the slow parts. Right? Like, that's like that. He's there for the action. So, like, I get it.
Josué:Right? Like, there's nothing I can do to convince him. Like, I know what he appreciates and what he doesn't, and he's just wired that way. And then there's nothing there's nothing wrong with that. Yeah.
Josué:I do think it's cool that you're open to checking some of these out. Right? Yeah. And and again, like, like I said, like, there's some classics, right, where it's like whenever you get into a new hobby, again, I mean, a card game now. It's like, oh, maybe I should check out magic.
Josué:Right? And now I'm, like, learning about magic. Like, that that has thirty years of history. Mhmm.
Rae:And
Josué:so, like, I'm I'm learning about about magic the gathering. And so I I I'm excited about exploring some of those that for you will be new. Right? Like, Cowboy Be Up for the first time in 2026 is is for me.
Rae:Fully for the first time. I have seen a few episodes of it.
Josué:Yeah. It's funny. It was on Toonami. Like, that's where I watched it.
Rae:Was that like on the, like, the later end of it? Or was that like the after school block? Because I'm the oldest, so I got the more overprotective parents.
Josué:Yeah. I don't remember now. I mean, there was Adult Swim and there was Toonami. And I I I think I'm I'm almost certain that it was a Toonami thing at some point. Yeah.
Josué:I pretty much watched every single show that ever showed up on Toonami. And then adults want to if it if it ever played on on Cartoon Network, I that's where I discovered them.
Rae:Yeah.
Josué:But but yeah, like watching it now. And I think you'll be surprised when you watch it and you see like the subject matter. And I don't remember how censored it was on Toonami. I haven't looked that up. But I because of our conversation, I went back and I watched the first episode recently And, yeah, it's gonna be fun exploring shows that I I think that's that was part of what made the first seasons of Otaku Ryo fun.
Josué:Also, it was like being able to share watching something with a friend who right? A show that I I maybe wouldn't have watched otherwise.
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:So we can tap into different genres and and have different perspectives on it. Because, again, it's not we're not here going to critique it. We're gonna see, like, is there something valuable in the show? Like, I can't currently think of a reason to revisit Cowboy Bebop right now in in a geek therapy sense. Yeah.
Josué:Right? In terms of topics. Part of it is it's been so long since I watched the show and the themes in it. Mhmm. Like, the first episode deals with addiction.
Josué:Mhmm. Right? And so, like, that could be I I might be stretching it. Right? But there there is like, there aren't drugs involved in the first episode.
Josué:Mhmm. It's a big part of the of the first episode. And it's definitely a found family show. Right? And so but but there's a lot of those.
Josué:Right? Like, don't know. So so this is kind of where we're we'll come at it from. Right? Like, I I to me, Neo Genesis Evangelion, I've watched the original series so many times.
Josué:I would say, maybe five times. I think that's a lot. Yeah. It's only 26 episodes, plus plus a movie. But then but then I rewatching or watching the remake versions, which is four movies Mhmm.
Josué:That sorta kinda retell the story. It is Hideaki Anno revisiting the story. For me, it is like it is therapeutic in the sense that I go on an emotional journey when I watch those four movies. And I think and I mean, there's a lot of talk about how the director and writer of those films, like he was processing his depression through those stories. I don't know how much of that you've seen so far.
Josué:You're just meeting Oscar, so I don't know how much of that is there. There's, there's father issues. There are there are there are things already that are very prevalent, but it was like him working through his oppression, and then watching the movies out like ten years later, you know, when he like went back and was like, what if I did this again? How would I do it differently? Is incredible.
Josué:But for me, the story of those four movies are extremely, again, therapeutic in the sense where, like, I go on this emotional ride with those movies that is very helpful for me in processing things and remembering things. So, yeah, we might we might talk about that at some point. Right? So there are different shows that we might touch on. Like, Frieren is an obvious one.
Josué:Mhmm. Get lots of different things, lots of different shows that we could visit. I don't know, like, would Bebop will be one of them, but this is the type of thing, right? Like, we might come up with a show that we've never watched before and or one of us hasn't watched, and we'll be able to check it out and see how it could be helpful, what could come from it. And and, I mean, the the critique the the worst critique that we or negative critique might be, like, it turns out that this show about well, I remember there was an episode that we did about a what's it called?
Josué:The voice. Hidden voice on the anime with the deaf girl.
Rae:Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I remember that episode. I don't remember what that anime was.
Rae:No, it was a movie.
Josué:It was a movie. Can't have to look this up. Yeah. Anime voice, hidden voice.
Rae:Hidden voice. That sounds right.
Josué:Is that is that is that right? A silent voice. That's silent voice.
Rae:That's a which isn't even accurate because she's deaf.
Josué:Look, that was my whole thing, right? Where it was like, a lot of people are like, oh, the movie about the deaf girl. I'm like, I don't think it handled. I'm not deaf. I said that like a million times during that episode.
Josué:Right? I'm not deaf. I don't consider myself part of the deaf community. I've I would consider myself adjacent at a time. Right.
Josué:But from what I know, like, don't think it was great representation of a deaf experience. Right?
Rae:Yeah.
Josué:And so in that sense, that's a critique, right? Like, that's the kind of critique we might, we might touch on where it's like, oh, they're saying that this person is bipolar and we might, you know, we'll put our nerd hats on and be like, actually, that's like, it's not showing any of those symptoms, you know? It looks more like this, like that kind of critique, but not like, that movie sucked or that TV show is garbage. Yeah. If you found something boring, that's like, I mean, what are you gonna do?
Josué:You know? But, but that's not, that's not the point, right? It's like, is it even if it was boring, the point is like, oh, like they touched on this topic. Yeah. In an interesting way.
Josué:Or it could be a great conversation starter. Or I had a client who worked with this, right? Or we heard a story about this being very, very, good for them. So again, at worst, we might touch on something and be like, I don't know how useful it might be as a conversation starter. But I don't think I've it's been very rare that I'm ever like, that's not helpful at all.
Josué:I think that, you know, because even even if it's not a good example of something, it's it's a it's still a good conversation starter in the sense where you can have the conversation like, oh, this character saying that they're depressed. Is that how you feel when you're depressed? And it's like, no, not at all. And then that still opens up the door for conversation, like seeing what is not your experience can still be helpful. And if it's fun, then it's, you know, can get some insights from it.
Josué:That's great.
Rae:Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Like, it's worth looking at things even if they aren't perfect or good representation or anything like that. You know, just the one know know what we're dealing with, especially if we're gonna, like, have conversations with clients about these things.
Rae:Yeah. You know, it might be like, oh, I've I've seen very little of Mob Psycho 100. But that's one that I actually have mentioned to clients a couple of times as because the metaphor there of mobs, like, meter of going from zero to a 100 is really resonates really hard with a lot of autistic folks and, like, sensory overload and stuff like that. So, like, I've I've kinda, like, pulled that one in even not having seen a ton of the shows. Like, hey, if you're interested, like, in seeing something that might resonate with you, check this out.
Rae:I know I I can't speak to the entire series. I haven't seen the whole thing, but this seems like it's speaking to what you're telling me.
Josué:And if they watch it, the conversation can go one of two ways. I feel very much like that, or it's not like that for me at all. It's actually like this.
Rae:Yeah, exactly.
Josué:Can still gather insights from it.
Rae:Exactly. Exactly.
Josué:Yeah. It's yeah. And I I think that now that we're talking about this, I don't know how well, we did this before on the show. Mhmm. But I think that there is value.
Josué:Of course, there is so much value in revisiting the classics. Right? But also what is popular in the moment. Right? Because it is more likely that one of your clients or one of your students or somebody in your community is going to be talking about the latest season of Jujutsu Kaizen and the latest.
Josué:I'm gonna cheat here and say and count the live action one piece. Mhmm. Right? And and say, lot of people just watched the first season or the second season of one piece. Mhmm.
Josué:And that's like a moment that we can take advantage of. Right? Exactly. It is very likely that people are bringing it up in at your work, and it's probably helpful for you to be somewhat aware of it or hear some of these conversations about it. So I would like to touch on some of the more popular things.
Rae:Oh, yeah.
Josué:You know, as they're happening, if a movie comes out, something new, when possible. It's it's always possible. Yeah. Sometimes that's very hard. But I I would like to do more of that.
Josué:Right? Like, if somebody what is it like in the last I don't know. Like, last year, I believe the anime award went to what's the Korean?
Rae:Solo leveling?
Josué:Solo leveling. Yep. Right? Like, oh, it's popular. Like, solo leveling is super popular.
Josué:I think it would be good to talk about it to to one, you know, there's no expectation that you watch and read everything. Right? Like, listener, there's something like it's impossible. Yeah. We also can't do that.
Josué:If we can help with some of the more popular things, we will sacrifice some of our time and watch the most popular anime on the planet Exactly. Have a talk about it here.
Rae:And this is also gonna be, like, fully for me, a little bit of accountability to make sure I actually can follow through on some of these things. Yeah. You keep coming around to the classics, I'm just waiting for you to drop the bomb that I have never seen really seen Naruto. Okay. Here we go.
Josué:Naruto, I cannot believe okay. So when this was the most shocking thing to me Because you every conversation we've had, it's like, oh, you obviously love shonen. Mhmm. And that was, like, the most geek therapy setup. Right?
Josué:Like, just, like, first episode. Right? Like, just first step is like it is so I think we we've done Geek Therapy Awards, right? For the last two years now. And the idea is to really call attention to media of that year, that it's like, hey, if you didn't check it out, you should probably check it out.
Josué:Right? Like, this is we it's kind of like a like a geek therapy stamp of like, this might be helpful in your work. It's powerful. It's worth visiting. I nominated Frearan.
Josué:Frieren got an award.
Rae:I nominated Fan Letter, One Piece Fan Letter, and I'm pretty sure that got like a mention.
Josué:Yep. It got a yep. It was a community pick. Oh, that was you. Yeah.
Josué:I forgot. I forgot. Yeah. That makes perfect sense. Yeah.
Josué:Yes. I had not. I did not remember that that was you. Of course, it was you.
Rae:That was before I was really like in your walls fully.
Josué:Way before. Yeah. Yeah. I we we've never talked about this. It's so funny.
Josué:You just said it. Like, yep, yo, that tracks. Yeah. Sometimes I want sometimes I think about them, like, wonder who was that wrote that? Like, I forgot their name.
Josué:It was you.
Rae:It was me the whole time. Hehe. Hehe Hoohoo.
Josué:No, that's great. Wow. Okay. So so, yeah, so I think I'm I'm you you see me losing my train of thought. I'm trying to grab it.
Josué:It was it was it was free rent. It was the awards.
Rae:It was
Josué:we've talked so so what I what I what I was going to thank you. Was we've talked about hall of fame. Mhmm. Right? Where it's like, okay, we just started doing we've done twenty twenty four and twenty twenty five awards.
Josué:We'll do twenty twenty six. Of course, and we'll keep doing them. But like some things are like transcend generations and time. Right? Like what which of those should we talk about and acknowledge?
Josué:And I think like if we're talking anime, I would put Naruto above. Shit, I would love to have this conversation. Actually, that's a great conversation to have a potential future episode. Yeah. Right.
Josué:But I think you haven't. So here's okay. The point is you never watched Naruto, which is crazy to me, because I think you would, you would love Naruto. Like, I think I don't I don't know all the reasons why you love One Piece. But if you love One Piece, and from everything else I know, I think you would love Naruto.
Josué:But we will, we will, we'll get there eventually. But I think Naruto is like up there. I he does some things incredibly, incredibly well.
Rae:Yeah. Yeah. I have seen a handful of episodes. I don't know what arc or anything they were. Cause one of my best friends who I'm still best friends with to this day, she's actually my oldest friend.
Rae:She showed me a couple of episodes when we'd be hanging out and we'd make like our Maruchan ramen and like eat it and watch it together. But that obviously we wanted that to be, like, a normal, regular thing, but it didn't actually work out that way because we were, what, like, 14 at the time or something like that. I don't even know how she was watching those episodes. She might have had DVDs or something like that. But Yeah.
Rae:That was in that era where, like, it was kind of hard to actually locate, especially if you were a minor who did not have a job.
Josué:It is I mean, it is so funny. I'm sure we'll we'll revisit this, but watching a Naruto episode without watching the first episode, you're just gonna find him annoying.
Rae:Right? It might have been the first episode. I don't know.
Josué:But he
Rae:I might I might remember when I go back to it. I'm not gonna lie. But it's been, Oh, God. It's been more than twenty years. Shit.
Josué:I find myself saying that a lot lately. Right? Also. Yeah. It's, yeah.
Josué:Welcome to. Ugh. I hate it. Well, it hasn't been twenty years since the last episode of Otaku Ryuho, and hopefully it won't be twenty more until the next one. I I'm I think I would like to wrap up with just getting an idea from you as to what you how you envision future episodes going, and if there are particular manga or anime that you would like to visit over the next, you know, couple months.
Rae:Well, okay. So the format you and Gian had before of kinda like passing it back and forth, I thought that was solid. We can keep doing that, honestly. Like, that puts that makes it a little bit more equal of distribution of mental labor of kinda figuring out, oh god, what are we doing this time? So I'm okay with that one.
Rae:Yeah, I think, I think, if we have like a theme in mind or like, you know, something like that, that we're looking to kind of, you know, explore with, you know, a certain show or whatever, that's that's ideal. But if honestly, I'm okay if we want to be like, let's just watch Cowboy Bebop and see what we can make of it. We're both pretty good at doing this geek therapy application thing. So I think that we'll even if we don't have something in mind, we'll be able to find something.
Josué:Yeah.
Rae:Something valuable to talk about there. And with regards to, like, properties, like, shows and stuff I wanna I wanna touch on, I mean, I'm committed to to watching Naruto in some capacity. I've I've already I've already agreed to it. I I wanna hold myself accountable with watching Cowboy Bebop, you know, for for whatever reason.
Josué:I'm not pressuring you. I want that on the record.
Rae:Yeah. No. No. No. This is all me.
Rae:This is all me. I wanna just like, I want to experience it differently this time be like, have an open minded experience with it. Like, I'm actually really excited to do that. Same same with Naruto. Same same with all of these that, you know, I never watch for whatever reason, whether access or being a being a shit about it.
Rae:I obviously I have a million different applications for One Piece, but we're not gonna just talk about one piece. I will restrain myself enough there that I don't know. Maybe we'll do like one One Piece topic a month or something. I don't know. I I will try to like drag it out, like set like space them out a little bit so we're not just yapping about one piece all the time.
Rae:I
Josué:think I think it would be very you to bring it up every episode. Like, just comes up because whatever we're talking about reminds you. I mean, they've covered everything probably, you know, in a thousand in 1,100 episodes.
Rae:So We need to have, like, a counter that's, like, zero days since last One Piece mention.
Josué:I don't think that's worth doing. I I don't
Rae:think it's worth because I think it's gonna be a funny So I I least I'm gonna take that on zero episodes since One Piece mentioned. Or since Rae mentioned One Piece, you can mention One Piece, but I'm gonna try to like not mention one piece as much. Think you're talking about Frieren and grief and honestly Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and grief and grief and regret and redemption. I think that that I I wanna talk about that. I wanna talk about Sailor Moon and gender.
Rae:I haven't talked about Sailor Moon at all. That Sailor Moon is a formative anime for me. That one got its hooks in me very early on.
Josué:Did you hear my rant on GT radio about the Sailor Moon? It was in one of the last episodes that was published.
Rae:I think that was one of the episodes that I did produce. So, like, I have heard some of it. Yeah. Or at least, like, read the transcript of it while while doing the post production stuff.
Josué:On a on a tirade about about about is yeah. It was Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon. No no hate to to to either show. It was just like, I had things that I felt I needed to say.
Rae:Yeah. I'm kind of curious if that's the way you still feel about those those topics nowadays or if or if you've you've had any sort of like growth or change there.
Josué:Well, had I had a it was more like I had epiphanies about it during the time, and it was it was a huge contrast Mhmm. Between the two. I mean, I I mean, it it like, like, go listen to the episode of GT radio if you're interested. But in in in brief, it was that Sailor Moon seemed very power of friendship and faith. Right?
Josué:Like, that's the source of the power, whereas Dragon Ball is obviously like, work hard and get stronger. And they are very different forms of wish fulfillment and fantasy, and they are also explicitly designed for different genders. Mhmm. Right? As well, and like stereotypes of what those genders might how they might accomplish things.
Josué:So I went into a whole thing about that just because it was so it was when I was finishing crystal. Was I was finishing crystal. I was also rewatching super, super Dragon Ball Super.
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:And just like the contrast was so like, yeah, it was so strong. Right? It's like, it's like, we believe in you Serena, and then pooh, she becomes this cosmic entity. And then, you know, Goku has to get has to train for three years, eat a whole bunch, and like, die to be able to get stronger.
Josué:And save everything.
Rae:The masculine urge to die to ascend to godhood.
Josué:I don't know. It was
Rae:Yeah.
Josué:It was a lot.
Josué:I feel like I would agree with you, honestly, because
Josué:Yeah.
Rae:It's very important to me when I'm watching, like, a shonen or something that female characters are fighters. Female characters are equally, like, represented in that they're capable. Winry in Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is a great example of that, that she is completely capable. She's not a fighter, but she is extremely capable. And, like, that that is crucial for me to my in my enjoyment.
Rae:If the women are treated as one dimensional, they are just a love interest or something like that, I'm gonna have a bad time.
Josué:But but like but and like part of my insight around like by my epiphany at the time was like, they are both important. Like, oh, like, effort and working hard can be an avenue. It doesn't always it isn't always fruitful. Right? But like, it is it is it is a way to actually realistically achieve a goal.
Josué:But you also need support from your friends and family and people who love you and believe in you. Right? Like, there you need both. Exactly. And I think Dragon Ball has a more of a balance of that.
Rae:Yeah. Yeah. I think you're right.
Josué:You know, Goku has an actual support system. Mhmm. Sailor, you know, the Sailor Scouts, some of them train, but most of them just have powers.
Rae:Yeah. They're just they're just kind of there and to comment, Oh, Usagi!
Josué:you're Yeah. And if they believe in each other, right, like, they they power up. And and again, like, I I enjoy them also. But it's like, when you it's like, oh, is that a lesson that I want my you know, like, do I want kids to get that lesson? Or just like, if we have enough faith, you know, things will be okay?
Josué:I don't know. I had some, you know
Rae:That's the 1993 equivalent of manifesting, and we know that shit don't work.
Josué:Again, but it's it's it goes a lot. Like, what I learned from that episode, that was on GT Radio with, a different cast, but it was helpful to get that that like, I'm learning that as well. Like, I'm glad to have you on the show to have a very different perspective in a number of ways. But one of them being that you're female and you have you know, you can you can speak to that. I don't have to anymore.
Josué:Thank you.
Rae:I relieve you of this burden.
Josué:You don't speak for all women. I don't I don't expect you to. I don't I don't speak for all of anybody. Mhmm. But there there is like, different people have different wishes.
Josué:Right? And I mean, individuals. Right? And like, and some of those wishes are like that wish fulfillment idea. You know, like, I'm learning.
Josué:I just watched Bridgerton. Oh, right. Like, I just watched all of Bridgerton. Right? And there is like, there's there's the romance.
Josué:Right? And it's a it's a it's a it's a female, written romance, right, for a female audience. Mhmm. And the romance there is very different than what you would see in a male written romance.
Rae:The male gaze TM.
Josué:Yeah. All that stuff. Right? Like, it is very different. It's cool to be able to appreciate that.
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:And it is just very clear in the power fantasy and how that works out.
Rae:And also the fan service in like from from women mangaka's because versus like the male ones. There is night and day. The only panty shots you get in Dungeon Meshi are of Senchi. And that is correct. That is correct.
Josué:Yes. Yes.
Rae:Yes. So what do we do in next episode? We we need to wrap this up.
Josué:Yeah. I I mean, we don't have to commit to it now. Do you want to commit now?
Rae:Yeah. It is? Now.
Josué:Okay. I who's who's gonna choose first? You get to decide who chooses first. So you can put it on me. I think You're gonna put it on me?
Rae:I think I will. I think I will because I have been racking my brain for literally weeks for like a good first topic, and it has evaded me.
Josué:Okay. Perfect. Then I suggest we visit My Hero Academia. Why like, we just said goodbye to to to a show that was extremely influential. Right?
Josué:Currently to current mangakas. Right? Main or current authors and and and artists in Japan. It was it has been a global phenomenon. It is it is huge.
Josué:I cried for the last five episodes. Right?
Rae:Oh, yeah.
Josué:And honestly, also, I don't think it did anything particularly different than any other Shonen that came before us.
Rae:Mhmm. Agreed.
Josué:But it but it hit it's got the formula down, and it was extremely special. And I honestly never got a chance to say goodbye to the show. Mhmm. So that is my recommendation that we talk about one of the most popular shows in the anime in the last five, ten years
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:Which technically, there are, like, three more episodes that are coming out this year. Right?
Rae:That sounds about right. Yeah. Because because Horikoshi released, like, three, four epilogues after that.
Josué:They're animating them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're coming out this year.
Josué:They're coming out this year. So so technically and I would say it's still epilogue ish. Right? But, like, let's say goodbye to My Hero Academia and and why it resonated so much. And, like, it I think it is one of those.
Josué:I think it is a source that if you watch it from beginning to end, you're going to have a lot to use with your clients and your students. There's a lot of good stories, lot of great characters. And yeah, let's What do think of that?
Rae:I'm so down. I'm so down because that means get to talk about the Todoroki's and they are my favorite family to just examine under a microscope because I wanna I wanna call Horikoshi up and be like, Horikoshi san, are you okay? You clearly wrote about your own dad here, clearly.
Josué:It might be it might be two episodes then. They could get their own their own They could get
Rae:They could get their own podcast. I and we talked about that at one point. Yeah.
Josué:Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Alright. So if you are unfamiliar with My Hero Academia, I suggest you look it up, check it out, check out some, even just a YouTube recap.
Josué:You've never seen it, check out the first episode, depending on where you are and how you can watch it. But the first episode alone will give you a lot of context about about what's what it's about and what's going on there. And also, like, again, if you're to us now and you're like, I don't know, you're not into anime. It is about superheroes. Like, I think it does a good job of like, it is I'm guessing that's one of the reasons why it was so popular.
Josué:It is a good bridge with Western Western superhero fandom as well.
Rae:I think Horikoshi was was specifically inspired by, like, American superheroes in comics.
Josué:That's pretty apparent to me for watching it.
Rae:And also Star Wars, the all the fictional cities in My Hero Academia are Star Wars locations.
Josué:Interesting.
Rae:Yeah, he's a he's a nerd. Every time I'm like, I see you. Yeah, I know what you are.
Josué:Yeah. Well, definitely resonates. And I think I think it it may even be a good place. I didn't think about this before, but I think it it's a good place to start if you're not super into anime. It is a great, like, transition place if you're if you're familiar with Western superhero stories.
Josué:I think I think it's a great, like, bridge
Rae:Mhmm.
Josué:To anime because you get a you get to it'll feel familiar in a sense, and also so Japanese and so anime. It'll be great. It's like when you see, like, the anime version of Batman or the anime movies of the Marvel movies. Right? It's like they are they're very anime.
Josué:It's great. Okay.
Rae:Okay.
Josué:So that is it for this episode of Otaku For more Otaku Ryuho, more geek therapy, you can visit network.geektherapy.org, where you'll find the podcast network. And if it's not there, it's Rae's fault.
Rae:Yeah. Yeah. You can at me. I don't have a social media account for this yet, but I will. But by next time, I'm committing to that.
Rae:Where you can at me and tell me all the mistakes I'm making, but also please be nice. I will cry.
Josué:So, yeah, like we say on all our shows, remember to geek out and do good. Please let us know what you think of this episode, of past episodes. Welcome aboard, Rae. And we'll catch you on the next one. Bye.
Rae:Sounds good. See ya.
