Jman

Jujutsu Kaisen 4-11 (over the last week or so). This show really loves its references. Wasn’t expecting a Cast Away reference of all things.

What’s on the following week, no one knows.

There's a few reasons for that. Namely that the academy is mostly crusty old white dudes who just care about what their kids or grandkids watch to shut them up (which is why 9 times out of 10 Disney wins the animation category) and the people in the West defending animation as a medium...kind of suck at it. You got folks talking about The Owl House like it's not a canceled show for little kids because the lead girl likes other girls (when the audience couldn't give two shits and a holler about it) and stuff like Kaisen dismissed as "weebshit" because it takes attention away from their important, socially relevant stuff. It sends really weird signals when the guy defending animation as this big, mature medium lists his main credit as The Patrick Star Show.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/nielsen-ratings-sale-private-equity-1235121440/ Kind of wonder if this will affect how the handling of the precious ratings is done.

First female protagonist in a mainline Gundam series (0080 was mostly about young Bernie, and Twilight Axis doesn’t count).

Final Four is set. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwj1s6K3luv2AhXajYkEHZ1-DAoQFnoECCwQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.espn.com%2Fmens-college-basketball%2Fstory%2F_%2Fid%2F33609470%2Fmarch-madness-first-look-2022-ncaa-final-four-men-basketball-teams&usg=AOvVaw0zsvtWeC0HvYaOynOuK6K7 Villanova vs Kansas and UNC vs Duke.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2022-03-28/netflix-live-action-one-piece-series-casts-peter-gadiot-as-shanks/.184123 We have a Shanks. Also a suggested Kureha -

The COVID delays really hit this production.

"Move these books around. It was a minigame in the original game, we need to acknowledge it." "So, what's in these books anyway? It's dirty stories, isn't it?" Does the entire population of Hong Kong speak in riddles? Philosophical statements to confuse Ryo are the equivalent of "I'm walkin here!" in New York City. "You're so obsessed with that." Seriously, dude has a wooden dummy for a brain. Ryo, unlike his successor Kiryu, actually does beat up quite a few girls. This lady right here is an opponent in an underground fight ring minigame. Speaking of, here's the final boss of that little questline. "THAT'S MY PURSE! I DON'T KNOW YOU!" Everyone here is very egalitarian. Man, woman, hands are rated E for everyone. Landsharks, fights going on without anyone interfering, it's really amazing how much big cities have in common. Right down to the gentrification. Also if by soon you mean...10 or 11 years. "Why are you following that Japanese guy around?" Is everyone here boneheaded? The moral of the story, "avoid tunnel vision", I suppose. Also, of course she's the old master. I really hope he's writing all this down. Here's something that the games never really did well, or if they did, it got lost in the awful dub. Ryo's motive in the game is clear-cut revenge, but in the show it seems to balance between revenge and trying to prove his father wasn't a thug that deserved to die. The question of course boils down to "Is it about vengeance or justice?", but that's a question the game was happy to answer with "It's about vengeance." The show seems to be implying his motive is more about justice.

June 18 debut.

Don’t give the streamers any ideas. I’m going to wake up one day and see Amazon announce a LA Outlaw Star.

In proper animation to boot.

Ryo continues to not understand anything outside of kung fu while Joy is clearly hot for him. How this circles back to the main plot of Ryo trying to stand a chance against Lan Di is anyone's guess.

And they just beat Purdue. Lowest seeded team ever in the Elite Eight.

Not surprising. Now to wonder who gets it over here.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2022-03-23/new-bastard-heavy-metal-dark-fantasy-anime-unveils-13-episode-june-30-debut-more-cast/.183915 June 30 debut.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/voltron-live-action-movie-1235117594/#recipient_hashed=9c7620043769560988486ff2eeeea179ad5bc5ef3d0353e8a3a5fe7427aa9fc1 Bonus, Netflix isn’t involved and it will have nothing to do with the craptacular Dreamworks show.

Netflix continues to give America what it wants in anime. People punching each other in the face.

The Sonic movie. This film being good given its premise is actually a small miracle, but a few hiccups aside, it’s a pretty fun family film.

Nobody cares about Tekken’s lore but a ton of people remember Tekken from movie theater arcades, rest stops and the PS1. That’s the audience. Netflix also made Baki a national hit so I presume they know that martial arts/combat sports anime are big business.

I still remember a while ago when I compared Toonami to Soul Train, the former face of a particular niche medium (anime, soul, funk and R&B music) that failed to adapt to new mediums and the desire of the audience (Netflix, Hulu, and Crunchyroll, while hip hop music found outlets that made Soul Train obsolete and led to its cancellation in 2008). FLCL was big when Adult Swim/Toonami was on top, so it will be big now is the line of thinking. Instead we got Netflix funding a Tekken anime and Jujutsu Kaisen's movie being #2 in the US behind The Batman.

Nothing was beating The Batman but the spare space has allowed Kaisen to be a surprise hit to those who already saw Battinson in action. (I want to see it but I'm debating whether to go or just wait till next month, April 19 to be exact, for the HBO Max release).

Jujutsu Kaisen 1-2.

DeMarco thinks what worked in the past works now when he was the only game in town and most of the alternatives cost a shitload or were illegal. He clearly likes FLCL. A LOT. He thinks it will light up the casual audiences because he says it will. But when Netflix answers that with a Tekken anime, Fooly Cooly In Da Hood loses out.

Side quest - The episode. Let's find the thing we need to unlock the next main questline! Joy is clearly into Ryo. Shame Cantonese isn't his first language...and he's denser than a bag of rocks. "Hello, we'll be the source of thugs for this part of the story. It's more of an excuse than Yakuza gives where every asshole on the street wants to pick a fight with you." REMEMBER HIM. HE'S IMPORTANT FOR LATER. Today's PSA fresh from the Double Dragon cartoon hits...just as soon as Discotek announces they're going to actually release that thing on Blu-Ray. Funny little world. "Yeah, you can stay here. I'll take the couch, and we avoid the sidequest for pocket money." The preview seems to hammer in Joy having a thing for Ryo. But will we see the underground fight club where Ryo pounds a schoolgirl into pudding?