I really enjoyed writing about the highlights of the summer anime season, so I did another one for the fall anime season, which runs from October through December. Since the fall anime season is basically over now, the holiday break is the perfect time to binge the hits, which is why I bring you this list the day before Christmas. Whether this is your first foray into anime or you just haven’t kept up in recent years, hopefully I can help!

1. Spy x Family (streaming weekly on Crunchyroll and Hulu)

The smash hit favorite action comedy returned for its third season, continuing its signature brand of outlandish plots with heartfelt character interactions. In a fictional version of Cold War era Germany, a spy, an assassin, a mind-reading child, and a dog who can see the future have to pretend to be a family. Only Anya, the child who can read minds, knows everyone’s secret.

This results in some laugh-out-loud shenanigans, but also some very interesting story beats about surveillance, authoritarian politics, and the price of war. The anime adaptation does a fantastic job of adapting the manga’s wide tonal shifts, resulting in a show anyone of any taste can love.

2. Ranma ½ (streaming on Netflix)

Another returning favorite, this new adaptation of a beloved manga by legend Rumiko Takahashi is the gold standard for anime reboots. Retaining the art style of the original anime while staying closer to the manga’s tight storytelling, it’s a joyful, hilarious show that will brighten your week. It continues in its second season this fall following Ranma, a teenage martial arts prodigy with a very silly problem—he was cursed so that any time he touches hot water, he turns into a girl.

He’s also engaged to his dojo owner’s daughter, Akane, and their will-they-won’t-they romantic comedy never gets old. The slapstick comedy of random problems being solved by martial arts battles is complimented by nostalgic colors, fun character designs, and MAPPA’s fluid animation.

3. May I Ask for One Final Thing? (streaming on Crunchyroll)

This show is the best thing to happen to the villainess genre in a long time, literally flipping many of its tropes on its head. A noblewoman in a fantasy kingdom has only one love—beating the shit out of people, and when she’s finally let loose, she becomes a folk hero.

This kind of premise could get old quickly, but this show never fails to find something new to make Scarlet’s reign of terror funny and interesting—there’s even a genre-blending twist a few episodes in that will keep even the most seasoned anime viewer on their toes. May I Ask For One Final Thing?’s play on The Scarlet Pimpernel combines an interesting magic system, political intrigue, and religious infighting to draw the viewer in past just the comedy.

4. This Monster Wants to Eat Me (streaming on Crunchyroll)

While the summer anime season had The Summer Hikaru Died using horror to examine queer male identity, the fall anime season’s This Monster Wants to Eat Me uses horror to examine depression, suicide, and queer female identity. Hinako has lost her will to live, so Shiori, a monstrous mermaid, follows her around, protecting her from other monsters so that she can eat Hinako when she’s become the tastiest.

But just like Hinako, the show never gets stale, with compelling characters and relationships that remind Hinako and the viewer why life is still worth living after tremendous loss. The tension between Shiori encouraging Hinako to embrace life, so that she can hasten her death, is devastating and intoxicating to watch.

5. Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! (streaming on Crunchyroll)

Delicious in Dungeon made a splash in 2024 as a new take on the dungeon crawling fantasy genre, focusing on the ecology and culinary sides of monster hunting, with a dash of unexpected body horror. Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! takes this premise and gives it a romantic spin—Melphiera, the daughter of a count in a fantasy world, is obsessed with studying and cooking monsters. Most people are disgusted by her special interest, but handsome Duke Galbraith is enchanted by her, and promises to slay monsters to feed her scientific studies.

As the series progresses, Melphie’s reasoning for her interest in finding safe ways to eat monsters leads to some really interesting worldbuilding, and brings her and the Duke together in adorable ways.

6. The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess (streaming on Crunchyroll)

Normally, an isekai protagonist dies and is whisked away into a generic fantasy world, or the world of something they were reading. The hilarious twist here is that Konoha, a tired office worker, gets reincarnated into her own self-indulgent story she wrote as a kid. The problem is that she doesn’t take the role of her self-insert character, the protagonist she named after herself—she now inhabits the body of the main character’s evil older sister.

Her antics trying to stay alive, and trying to remember all the things she put into her fantasy world as a kid, are hilarious, but never make fun of her for her fangirl imagination.

7. Let’s Play (streaming on Crunchyroll)

This is a Japanese anime adaptation of a U.S. webcomic that started on WEBTOON and is now serialized on the Tapas app, so it’s a truly global production. Sam Young works by day at her father’s company, but by night her passion is video game development. When a major streamer completely misunderstands the first game she ever made and pans it on a stream, her game gets review bombed and she thinks her career as a game developer is over. Then someone new moves in next door—Marshall Law, the very streamer who ruined her life.

Sam has to overcome her tremendous social anxiety to stand up for herself to Marshall, while also navigating her friendships with her gaming guild, and the various men who want to date her. It’s a fun slice of life anime set in Los Angeles rather than in Japan, that even the most casual of gamers can appreciate.

8. A Mangaka’s Weirdly Wonderful Workplace (streaming on Crunchyroll)

A show about people who draw all day doesn’t sound like it would be interesting, but somehow this show brings a ton of charm to the premise. It follows mangaka Nana Futami as she works on her first serialized manga, highlighting her assistants, her shy editor who believes in her unconventional writing choices, and her daily mental breakdowns.

The show expertly balances how it can be difficult as a woman in the Japanese workplace, especially in creative fields, without other women to be in your corner, while never being too much of a downer. Plus, Futami-sensei and her editor Sato-san definitely have some romantic tension going on (another win for yuri this season).

9. Kakuriyo -Bed & Breakfast for Spirits- (streaming on Crunchyroll)

After seven years, this charming series finally returned for a second season, surprising shojosei fans everywhere. 19-year-old Aoi Tsubaki can see spirits, called ayakashi in the series. After being raised by her grandfather, she is kidnapped and taken to the Hidden Realm by the ogre ruler of Tenjin-ya. He tells her that she must marry him to pay off her grandfather’s debt, but she gives a counter-offer: she’ll work off the debt in Tenjin-ya’s inn for ayakashi.

The series follows Aoi as she charms the spirits around her with her no-nonsense attitude and human world cooking. Unlike many soft-spoken and anxious female protagonists in these types of stories, she isn’t shy about her opinions and easily stands up for herself, making for a refreshing change of pace. Anyone who enjoys Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Kamisama Kiss will love Kakuriyo.

10. GNOSIA (streaming on Crunchyroll)

Last but certainly not least is GNOSIA, the show that somehow makes people standing around talking about logic puzzles interesting to watch. With a similar setup to the game Werewolf/Mafia, and a little bit of Among Us, GNOSIA adapts the visual novel logic game of the same name with dynamic animation and creative character designs.

Whether viewers can follow the deductive reasoning needed for the main character, Yuri, to advance, doesn’t really matter, because the show keeps viewers on their toes either way. It’s also refreshing to see sci-fi that isn’t afraid to be bold and colorful, while maintaining its horror and suspense, even when there are no big flashy action sequences.

Honorable Mentions:

• Plus-Sized Misadventures in Love (streaming on Crunchyroll) is a surprisingly fat-positive story coming from Japan, that makes you think it’s a typical office romcom, and then comes in swinging with a genre-bending twist. While it’s not as fat-positive or even neutral as I’d like, it kept me watching week to week.

• With You, Our Love Will Make It Through (streaming on Crunchyroll) is an adorable high school romance with beautiful animation, but a bit of an insane premise — the love interest is a beast boy in a world where the descendants of genetically engineered beast people live in a separate community behind a wall. Sometimes the politics of the racial allegory or the level of lasciviousness of the romance involving teenagers is a bit of a turnoff, though, which, despite its charming characters and story, makes it hard to recommend. I sometimes catch myself wishing they’d adapted the story of the male lead’s parents instead, which was a manga for and about adults. All that being said, the show has surprising nuance depicting consent when fantasy pheromones are involved.

• Umamusume: Cinderella Gray (streaming on Amazon Prime Video) continued its first season this fall by somehow making horse gambling cool again through anime horse girls. You may think it’s not for you, but the Umamusume franchise will have even the most skeptical viewer thinking about what hat to wear to the next Kentucky Derby. Here’s a quick Umamusume primer:

• Star Wars Visions: Volume 3 (streaming on Disney+), continues one of the only artistically valuable additions to the Star Wars franchise since Andor. From the most casual Star Wars fan to the most diehard who fell out of love with the series in recent years, Visions returns this anime season to remind us that Star Wars has always been at its best animated. I got to see some of the shorts on the big screen at The Japan Society, and for just a moment, I was a little kid watching Star Wars again.

• Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26 (streaming on Amazon Prime Video) continues this season’s streak of incredible anime anthologies, adapting Chainsaw Man mangaka Tatsuki Fujimoto’s one-shot series of the same name. Even if Chainsaw Man isn’t your cup of tea, Fujimoto is considered one of the best modern mangaka for a reason, and the different studios brought on to adapt his one shots do incredible work here.

• Gachiakuta (streaming on Crunchyroll) is one of the best new shonen action series in years. While I’ve stopped watching most shonen myself, it elevates a lot of the best tropes of the genre with an interesting art style, compelling social commentary, and respectful portrayals of Black characters in anime, an unfortunate rarity even these days. (Also a really cool soundtrack with interesting influences!) I normally wouldn’t include it on this list because it already gets so much promotion from Crunchyroll, but I’d be remiss not to mention it.

• Sanda (streaming on Amazon Prime Video) — speaking of action shonen series trying something new, Science Saru’s adaptation of the Sanda manga, about a kid in a future Japan with a dwindling population who finds out he is Santa Claus’ descendant, made waves all season for its interesting story and tremendous animation. I haven’t personally gotten to this one yet, but I had to include it on friends’ recommendations, and as a thematically perfect Christmas binge.

This newsletter usually focuses on 1 piece of media I enjoy that should get more attention, why it works, and why you’ll love it, too. But this issue, I’m focusing on one that doesn’t really need a lot of introduction because it is a beloved part of one of the largest franchises on earth - Star Wars Rebels.

I’ve written a lot about the politics of Star Wars, including how Andor and Star Wars Rebels connect. I talk a lot about how they represent the best of the franchise because they focus a lot on how the personal and the political connect, rather than just waving laser swords around. I worked with the civil rights organization Get Free while the final season of Andor was releasing to connect Star Wars fans with IRL organizing in the U.S. In Nemik’s Weekly Manifesto, we connected things that occurred in Andor with real things the U.S. Empire is doing right now, and has done in the past.

This newsletter issue will be doing none of those things. I’ll just be talking about how much I love Star Wars Rebels, a show about a group of concerned citizens on a planet threatened and then occupied by an Imperial power, who come together to smuggle aid to people being starved by that Imperial power. This has nothing to do with anything in real life, simply about Star Wars, a franchise I love.

The premise of the very famous and child-friendly Star Wars films is that an armed militaristic rebel force breaks the law to take down an imperialist power. In Star Wars Rebels, much like in Andor, we see the development of one of these rebel cells over years, starting by bringing mutual aid to their own community on Lothal, and expanding to other planets blockaded by the Empire.

They have blasters, a rickety freighter ship rigged to the gills with laser cannons that’s the space equivalent of a semi-truck with a bazooka strapped to it, and two of them are genocide survivors who wave around laser swords. For most of the show, they run aid missions, and are chased by Imperial powers for doing so.

Adults and children alike love Rebels for making everything from a silly supply run filler episode to a major Star Wars lore drop magical and heartfelt. Despite flashy moments like Darth Maul’s actual death, or the introduction of time travel into the Star Wars canon, it’s Rebels characters that make it shine. Each member of the Ghost crew are victims of the Empire’s genocides in different ways, and come together to help others because of it. From Kanan and Ezra, the Jedi hiding from the active genocide of Force sensitives; to Garrazeb Orrelios, one of the last Lasat left in the galaxy after his entire planet was wiped out; to Hera Syndulla, raised by Ryloth rebels, who had been fighting for independence from many different powers for decades; to Sabine Wren, a survivor of several Mandalorian civil wars and genocides. Yes there are whales that fly through space and droids that sing while being stranded in the void, but there is also real commentary on the effect extractive, colonial imperialism has, on whole populations, over generations.

Is it always the best or most nuanced political portrayal? No, and there are many rants on my old Star Wars podcast, RuPalp’s Podrace, about how Saw Gerrera is portrayed for this very reason. Did the live action Ahsoka show almost ruin this story and characters for me because it completely missed the inherently political story in order to make up a feckless continuation for Mouse dollars? Yes, absolutely, and I wrote literally thousands of words about it. But on several rewatches the original series still holds up, and I keep thinking of it this week, for no real reason of course.

The show also does an incredible job, in a way I have not seen done this well since Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender, in showing what you should do if you are complicit in an imperial power. Aleksandr Kallus, the Imperial agent turned Rebel hero, does not strive for redemption, but for atonement. Sabine Wren, the genius teenager, throws her entire life and future away when she discovers what her inventions are doing to her people on Mandalore. There is always a chance to quit and change sides. There is always a chance to do better, to stand up and say that you were wrong, and you will dedicate your life to stopping these wrongs from being committed on others.

Rebels also displays prominently how art and culture are imperative to both Imperial control and ethnic cleansing, and to rebel resistance. Control of information and culture is the reason any mention of the Force, and Force sensitivity, are wiped out on purpose by Inquisitors and the Empire. Sabine Wren’s identity as both an engineer and an artist, who creates the rebel insignia through her defiant graffiti, is imperative to inspiring those around her.

Admittedly, this is a pretty corny way to get my message across. So I hope you all can read between the lines and watch Star Wars Rebels. There is something I am trying to say here, beyond just the face value comparisons, that is a very hard truth I don’t know if some people are ready to face yet. I hope you all will understand my meaning when I say that sometimes the Ghost crew had to blast their way in to help the people starving on these planets, from Ibaar to Lothal.

This show for children has an incredible amount of nuance about the price of having to blast your way through to liberation, even with the Mouse’s restrictions on what can be shown. What does that do to the children, like Ezra and Sabine, tasked too early with having to fight back with force? It is not an easy choice, and it is not taken lightly in the show.

You can watch all of Star Wars Rebels now on Disney+. Thank you for reading my very intermittent and scattered newsletter, about a show for children, and clearly nothing else.

Since my last issue, I've watched a lot and read a lot, and didn't really have anything new to share for some time. I wasn't initially going to write about today's subject because, well, it's already very popular, and I'm no expert. I just like it a lot, and didn't have much else to say.

But after I turned 29 this fall, I started doing a lot of end of my 20s reflecting. And while I enjoyed this manga/anime before, I wasn't sure why it was connecting with me so much at this moment - until recently. So this issue is a little different than normal, where I'll talk a bit more about what it means to me rather than a full pitch to you all. I've kept it as spoiler free as possible, though, so even if you don't know much about it you can still read on.

Yes, it's another manga/anime, but bear with me - the extremely popular horror battle shonen, Jujutsu Kaisen.

The first time I watched it through, I wasn't sure if I liked it. The power system is so complex that even the writer (the mangaka, Gege Akutami), barely understands it, and the plot CLIPS along with 0 filler, so if you're not paying attention you'll miss a LOT of key information. It's also heartbreakingly sad, and I couldn't handle the unending suffering with seemingly no point to it in sight.

But looking back now, I think I just wasn't in the right frame of mind at the time. I had just mainlined a ton of classic and currently popular manga and anime after a devastating job loss. But then I started to read the JJK manga, and season 2 started airing (which includes a short flashback arc, and then continues the story in the present day), and something clicked.

Yes, JJK is a story about battling curses with special powers, that has inspiration from almost every battle shonen animanga (and many other genres) before it. It takes place firmly in the modern day, with exact dates in the 21st century. The kids are Gen Z, and the teachers are millennials like myself (with some older).

Like many popular stories right now, it's a story about generational reckoning, and the questioning of crumbling institutions. It's about how we fail those who are gifted, those who are twice exceptional, and children in general. It's about how love is the greatest curse, and if it's possible to turn the curses of life into blessings. It's about how when life is terrible, whether through the drudgery of capitalism in adult life, or patriarchy, or terrible loss, we still keep trying, because it's always worth it. (Which are often my favorite kinds of stories).

The arcs that just aired in the anime, the Hidden Inventory/Premature Death, and the infamous Shibuya Incident, are about being in your late 20s and looking back on your youth. What would you have done differently? What could you not have changed no matter what? What have you lost that you can't get back? What happened to you at 17 that made you into who you are today? Who could've helped you that didn't, or that couldn't? What time did you waste in reaction to your teen experiences? They're about how even when you're still relatively young, your past can haunt you, and it can be a curse full of regrets, but also a blessing for the world. They're about how even when you're young, life can be short - and what have you done with it so far?

The story in these arcs centers around Satoru Gojo: the protagonist Yuji Itadori's mentor, the strongest jujutsu sorcerer in the world, and the loss that haunts him so deeply it leads to his, and many others', downfall. His story of unending loneliness is a part of the larger theme of loneliness and isolation that pervades JJK and haunts its characters, both in a societal and structural sense, and a personal one.

There's a joke amongst JJK fans, that its real name is "Jumpjutsu Kaisen," because unlike many battle shonen with huge 1v1 battles, this animanga will just have 2 or more people JUMP someone for a beat down. But it has a specific thematic meaning to it - despite many sorcerers, including Gojo himself, saying jujutsu is an isolating profession, where people die alone and with regrets, Gojo dedicates his life to changing that. So while he and his colleagues might fight alone with powerful cursed techniques, he taught and encouraged his students to fight together, learn and play off each other's strengths, and look out for each other. Maybe the real domain expansion and cursed techniques were the friends we made along the way, etc, etc. Only through collective action can we win battles against monsters, but also change the system that puts us in cycles of abuse and exploitation over and over. It's even in the name - a rough translation of the title is the CYCLE of sorcery, a cycle of perpetual battle.

These themes of individualism vs. collectivism aren't new in fiction, and especially not in Japanese media, and especially in modern times with struggles between traditionally collectivist vs. Western-influenced individualism pervading Japanese society. But it's a universally relateable idea, especially for those of a certain age (millennials and Gen Z, and maybe even younger) in a world falling apart at the seams, where in the face of globalized decay, we all keep having to be reminded of the history and power of collective action.

At its core, JJK is a story about a millennial unionizing his workplace to change a system that victimized and isolated him and his friends for others' gain. Its a story about a group of millennials who see really no future for themselves, and who sometimes need to joke through the pain and get a little treat to get through the day, trying to improve things for those who will replace them. It is both nihilistic and endlessly hopeful. It is a story about people who don't have a lot of hope for the future, but try anyway, because what else is there to do with what little time we have on this earth.

As I watch and read JJK, I still truly do not know how it will end. Things just keep getting worse, over and over, for all our characters, just like they are in the real world. I don't know how I'll feel if it ends in a truly nihilistic, bleak way for our characters left alive, or what sort of "happy" ending would satisfy me. But it seems to capture perfectly what it's like to endure day to day right now.

Like Gojo, I am lucky for what I have, despite so many around me suffering. Late stage capitalism keeps me and everyone around me isolated, just like he is by both jujutsu society and his literal powers.

Like Yuji, I am both complicit in and forced to bear witness to atrocities almost daily, as those close to me struggle as well.

Like Nanami, capitalism has robbed me of simple dreams and pleasures in life, and I live in fear of dying before being able to enjoy so many things.

Like Shoko, the people I know and love are being broken down or dying around me, and the only role I am left with is that of a caretaker.

Like Maki, I am both disabled and gifted.

Spoiling as little as I can about the current story in the manga, the story centers if Yuji and his beloved Megumi will break the systemic problems that befell their teacher Gojo and his tragic love, Geto. The parallels between them are at the center of the story - a strong kid who has to swallow curses to gain power, and the kid born with an ancient, inherited power who loves him. The story begins with them saving each other, in a way that Gojo and Geto were never able to. They parallel each other every step of the way, and the curses of previous generation's baggage keep being shoved on them, begging the question - will they break the eponymous "cycle of sorcery", of literal generational curses?

This story has become so popular and so beloved, I keep wondering what the effects will be if Megumi and Yuji succeed, and if they don't. If we cannot imagine breaking cycles of violence in fiction, what hope is there in real life? If Megumi and Yuji can't break their curses, can we?

A story doesn't need a moral or a happy ending to be good, or to be worthwhile. But it both influences and reflects those who consume it. What happens if a generation of young people watch and read this story and are told there is no hope, and every effort is in vain? It scares me. But I read on anyway.

I spend every day fearing a premature death and watching the world crumble around me, like Yuji does, so at least I have company. Maybe that's all Jujutsu Kaisen has to be. A companion on our rapid descent. A friend, like Yuji's friends, who cannot fix it or give you hope, but who can share the load. What are stories if not a kind of friend, who entertain us and distract us and make us think and make life just a little more interesting? A friend going through similar struggles, who you can commiserate with, that makes you feel a little less crazy. Yuji knows we cannot avoid tragedy, but strives to at least give people a good death. I think, if the world is ending, sharing a good story with so many people around the world, even if it's devastating, is a good way to go out.

If I haven't depressed you enough with my nihilistic essay, and you still haven't read or watched JJK and would like to, I have one quick suggestion about the order in which to watch it for maximum effect:

• Season 1 (don’t miss the post-credits Jujutsu Stroll scenes!)

• Season 2 Eps 1-7 (The prequel Hidden Inventory arc + the setup for the Shibuya arc)

• JJK 0, the movie (make sure you watch the post credits scene!)

• Season 2 Eps. 8-onwards (The Shibuya Arc)

• Read the manga, starting with volume 0. (The best way is to catch up is by checking out the volumes electronically or physically from your library, and then reading for free in the Shonen Jump app each week once you're caught up).

I made two playlists, one of songs about Gojo & Geto that I need someone to make horrifyingly sad edits to, and one about the brother-like relationship between Gojo and Megumi. You can listen to them while reading the manga and fall into deeper despair with me.

Both the dub and the sub for the anime are really good, and frankly the dub has better translations than the subtitles that overworked Crunchyroll translators had to spit out with almost 0 turnaround time. If you'd like to read more lost in translation analysis that led me to love this series even more, you should follow @papikaychan and @societyhater_ on TikTok.

Once again, thanks for reading my very irregular newsletter, and as always if you liked the thing I talked about and want to message me about it, please do!

For the uninitiated, this is where I bring you 1 piece of media that has captivated my heart and soul lately, and break apart why it is wonderful, why it is (or could be) popular, and why you will love it, too.

This issue I have the distinct honor of discussing a piece of media right as it releases, rather than being years or months late to the game like my last few issues. I am so excited to talk about the first novel of the Downworld Sequence:

The Archive Undying

by Emma Mieko Candon

I was already a fan of Emma's first novel, Star Wars Visions: Ronin, so I went into this novel knowing I'd like it. I did not know how much I'd LOVE it. As a fan of adult scifi like Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice/Imperial Radch books, I was already interested in the topic of worlds with AI with multiple human bodies. And while those books delve into the political aspects that a society with ancillaries brings, The Archive Undying asks what it is like when the bodies connected to the AI, in this case called relics, are more a question of faith and spirituality. What does it mean, to love a god who has also taken your bodily autonomy? How does that inform your choices? And what is ethical for the god to do to you?

This book has a little something for everyone. The main character, Sunai, is lovable in the way that he so desperately does not want to be lovable and says it constantly, but you, the reader, much like his god Iterate Fractal, and everyone who meets him, cannot but help to love him. The world-building, like the tendrils of Iterate Fractal into a relic's brain, takes some time to understand, and get used to, but you slowly begin to piece it together just as Sunai allows himself to realize certain truths.

And the prose? I LOVE Emma's style, so I may be biased, but in almost every chapter there is a line that just knocked me flat. It feels like reading epic poetry, but at the same time modern, relatable and hyper-characterized. Even some of the most mundane occurrences are described in ways that are beautiful, which I think pairs so well with the theme of making the machine the divine.

I read it as an audiobook, my preferred method, and I'm actually sad I did, despite it being a really good audiobook, because I wanted to catch all these lines and highlight them as they happened, which almost never happens for me. One such example:

“He wants to see that face as he’s seen in turn. What a fulsome whole they make together. He is consumed by the transcendence of union.”

One thing to note, is that this is adult scifi, and not a scifi capital R Romance novel, but there is a romance at the center of it, and it is BREATHTAKING. I think of them constantly. Yes, they are gay. So are most of the people around them. But they are also deeply flawed people rejecting connection despite wanting it dearly and the constant yearning is DELICIOUS. Fellas, is it gay to both worship and fear the same AI god together?

Speaking of representation, yes, there's significant LGBTQ representation, but also very prominent characters are very explicitly neurodivergent, some might argue autistic, and several are physically disabled, and it's treated extremely well and normally. It feels very natural, and even factors into the world and character building for one character at one point.

Like the AI god Iterate Fractal itself, this book left me hungry for more, of Sunai, and of this world. I immediately would pay any amount of money to see this as an adult animated series, maybe in the visual storytelling style of Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. It's a story about mechas and AI tech, but deeply rooted in the natural world, and the people of a city. It has huge and brutal action scenes, but the general vibe is quiet, and rooted in how the machine attempts to be a part of the natural world, from how it acts like vines, to how it uses bone and coral.

The ending is also basically this song, which made me full body laugh for 10 minutes when I realized it.

I am almost upset I read this book as it is coming out, because then I cannot binge all the books in the upcoming series at once and have it piped into my brain directly as if I was a relic interfacing with an AI god myself.

You will enjoy TAU if you like:

• All the mecha you can think of - Evangelion, Pacific Rim, Gundam, they all probably influenced Emma in some way. However, even if you are not a mecha enjoyer or aficionado, you will still enjoy it. (If you enjoyed the political machinations between powerful women from my last issue in Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury, the author of TAU is also a GWitch fan and this book has PLENTY of that as well. As well as lesbians, obviously).

• Specifically on Pacific Rim, if the idea of drift compatibility makes you feel as crazy inside as it does to me, then this is the book for you. You know, the inherent romance of sharing a bond so close you can pilot a mecha.

• As I said before, the Imperial Radch universe of books from Ann Leckie, or really any scifi about droids and the ethics of artificial intelligence (but again, even if that's not normally your thing, I encourage you to give it a try - it feels VERY different).

• YES, Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom but also Breath of the Wild! Emma loves the games themself and you will definitely notice some influences, but the combination of magic and spirituality, technology and engineering, and the awe of the natural world that the BOTW/TOTK era brings to LOZ is SO VERY similar to the Archive Undying. (Yes there's divine beasts, but also people with cursed mechanical body parts like Link's arm in TOTK, and fragments of corrupted technology from ages past, and consuming objects of unimaginable power that change your body forever...)

• Not only lots of queer characters, but queer characters with varying shades of gray of morality, but who never feel like caricatures. There isn't even one "villain" per se, and every character has moments of failure and redemption, even for side characters.

• When just cooking up a tasty meal is an integral part of a scene. Damn, this book made me hungry. I think if this book was animated I would hate every scene of Sunai avoiding his problems by cooking for people because it would look SO tasty.

• A wider thread on what a police state with mechas looks like, which is often a common theme in mecha anyway. How do established resistance movements and the state and the divine intertwine?

• WLW/MLM solidarity, or more importantly, WLW/MLM hostility (sometimes the gay protagonist's best butch lesbian friend has to kick his ass).

• A they/them who is a menace to society (complimentary).

• The Power of Aunties (Sunai is helpless to resist).

• Did I mention the divine beasts? But yes, mecha animals, and terrifying mecha sea creatures as well. Think of the robotic sea monster from Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

• Multiple POV in prose fiction. This book switches a lot between third person about Sunai, and first person from the POV of different AI, and other things I cannot spoil, in order to get across how perspective and consciousness meld and bend often. It's FASCINATING.

• Yes, Trigun. The author is also a Trigun fan. I can only describe Sunai as if Wolfwood was the plant, unable to die, but like Wolfwood, self destructive but unable to not protect those he loves and be doomed by the narrative, and fall in love with a divine being. (Also, a chainsmoker who loves to cook!).

• Rogue One, but specifically the character of Galen Erso, the conflicted, manipulated, and guilty scientist.

• In-universe poetry as a storytelling device. (And yes, this does include Sunai mentioning soulmate poetry to a guy he just barely met, despite saying he doesn't like getting attached).

• The messiest gay love triangle imaginable (both LITERALLY and FIGURATIVELY).

If none of this has enticed you yet, let this art commissioned by the author, drawn by Caitlin Ono of my dearest Sunai, convince you:

I am SO excited for more people to read this book so I can talk about it more. (And so I can see fanart, PLEASE). You can read the first SIX CHAPTERS for free right now to try it out!

When you decide to read it, please:

1. Check if your library has it/has it on order, either physically or on the Libby or Hoopla apps. If not, see if you can request it!

2. If you're in the US and my recommendation helped, please order it through my Bookshop! (the Barnes & Noble and Libro.fm audiobook subscriptions also offer a free audiobook when you sign up if you want to go the audio route and want to divest from Amazon).

3. If you're not in the US, I would ask that you try to buy it anywhere other than Amazon. Even Rakuten Kobo for the ebook or audiobook is slightly better!

4. If you like it as much as I did, make sure you write a review on GoodReads, and yes, Amazon (you can write reviews there as long as you've bought something in the last year, even if you didn't buy that item there). I don't use either, but I repost my Storygraph reviews over there because it really helps authors. And tell a friend! Or post about it online! Word of mouth does wonders for books! (By the way, we should be friends on Storygraph, the BETTER reading tracker/Goodreads.)

5. Please email/call/text/DM me everything about this book. I NEED to talk about it with someone.

6. Listen to my podcast’s interview with the author about the book! Spoilers incoming:

For the uninitiated, each issue I bring you 1 piece of media that has captivated my heart and soul lately, and break apart why it is wonderful, why it is (or could be) popular, and why you will love it, too.

This week, I'm very excited to introduce...

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

You may ask, "Klaudia, you talked about an anime last time, ANOTHER anime?"

Just trust me on this one, even if you are not normally an anime, or even giant mecha franchise, enjoyer.

The Witch from Mercury dares to ask: what if you COULD have it all in a TV show? What if you could have amazing animation AND deep sociopolitical themes AND crazy mecha fights AND diversity in animation AND sapphics? What if you made Neon Genesis Revolutionary Girl Gundam: The Tempest Ragnarok Succession, and it was not only coherent, but a masterpiece, every single week? What if, for one glorious moment, TV was perfect?

Everyone from critics, to Gundam fans (well, except the homophobic ones), to yuri anime fans, to casual viewers, loves this thing, and for good reason: it BANGS, it has something for everyone. (You should read this great Polygon article about why before you proceed as well!)

I am in no way an expert on mecha, and this is also my first Gundam series, so please know that my recommendation comes from the POV of a filthy casual just like probably most of you. You can watch this show having 0 Gundam knowledge, or even 0 anime knowledge, and still come away from it in awe. (And, I hear from the deep cut Gundam fans, that you will be EATING, too).

The Witch from Mercury deals with many of the same issues that Gundam, and mecha as a genre, is known for: the ethics of war, how far we are willing to go for our ideals, transhumanism, what constitutes the self, and what we are willing to put children through. But it combines ALL of this and somehow MORE. GWitch uses the framework of the historical witch hunt, where women's autonomy was literally demonized to further feudal, patriarchal and religious power, to critique late stage capitalism and war profiteering. But in an elite military high school where a girl uses a giant robot to battle for another girl's hand in marriage.

How the FUCK do you make a concept like that work? Through the inexplicably chipper and loveable main character of Suletta Mercury, the "witch" from Mercury herself. She grew up on Mercury, which was fairly rural compared to the rest of Spacian society, and upon arriving at Asticassia School of Technology, her status as a "witch" who pilots illegal GUND technology, and the little she knows about the corporate society around her, make her the perfect conduit for the audience to learn all the complex ways these elements tie together. (While still avoiding the boring viwer insert hero problem - she's interesting on her own!)

Anime enjoyers may notice that some of this setup is almost exactly the premise of Revolutionary Girl Utena, just with Gundam, and you would be absolutely correct. I would even say that Utena is required viewing before GWitch, if possible, because of how much it takes from it, thematically, visually, and otherwise.

(You can actually watch both the English dub and the original Japanese with subtitles of Utena for free on YouTube, if you haven't already. It's a classic I think everyone should watch at least once.)

The writer of GWitch, Ichirō Ōkouchi, has worked on almost every iconic anime series you could think of, but may be best known as the writer of GWitch studio Sunrise's other classic, Code Geass (He also wrote the Utena light novels so, nothing in here is a coincidence).

However, somehow, GWitch seems to be the BIGGEST reference to something else entirely - Shakespeare's The Tempest.

It also, apparently, may be the Gundam version of the coming of Ragnarok, the end of days in Norse mythology. (There's also a smattering of Greco-Roman mythology in there, too).

If all of this wasn't enough to get you interested, there is also:

• Body diversity in anime - yes, that's right, there's MULTIPLE fat people who are not demonized but treated as normal! And in space!

• Racial and ethnic diversity, including several Black characters, drawn WELL in anime (to be fair, a low bar considering the history of anime, but when I think of another reboot of a classic mecha franchise that attempted to have racial diversity and gay people and absolutely fumbled the bag, aka Voltron: Legendary Defender, it's nice to see GWitch sweep the floor with it)

• The sapphics, the WLW, the GIRLS AND THE GAYS, the yuri icons: SULEMIO. I say sapphics because Suletta might be bi/pan/queer, we're not that sure, it's not focused on too much, but my god! These bitches GAY! GOOD FOR THEM (And while the series gets very dark for them, it has a happy ending, a rarity in Gundam AND for sapphics in media in general.) This shit is so gay that they named the titular Witch from Mercury's love interest, the "bride," Miorine, after the Japanese space agency's MIO orbiter around Mercury, and are doing an OFFICIAL COLLABORATION WITH IT.

• TOXIC MILFs. This series dares to ask an important question: if Gendo Ikari was a hot MILF, would you support her being a fucked up individual? My answer is yes. If you don't know who Gendo Ikari is, just think of the worst father in fiction but then make him a hot woman. You'd apologize for her crimes, right?

• When a male character is an asshole for about 5 seconds in the beginning, but then spends the rest of the series having the literal worst day imaginable as he works for his redemption.

• The messy drama of family-run corporate politics, like if Succession was about war profiteers with giant robots. There's a whole episode just about trying to get VC funding and it's one of the most dramatic in the entire show.

• The extremely uncomfortable but necessary themes of socioeconomic disparity between peers at an elite institution that make certain school shojo like Ouran High School Host Club interesting.

• Absolutely 0 sexist anime fanservice. They have low gravity-appropriate yet cute school uniforms that are loose shorts instead of awful jokes about short skirts. The very small amounts of sexism on screen are solely from certain characters to portray that they are bad and wrong, and it's not excessive. It's downright refreshing.

• Leftist Discourse (TM) between different revolutionary groups, with the nuance of Andor. (In general, GWitch is to Gundam as Andor is to Star Wars - the somehow even more political addition that features gay women prominently this time.)

The only things you need to know to get into GWitch are:

1. The series exists in a separate universe from Gundam's Universal Century, so it can be watched on its own. The only thing you need to make sure to watch is the prologue "movie", helpfully listed as Episode 0, that sets up the main premise and absolutely FUCKED UP tone. It's extremely necessary to watch. If you want, after that, you can read the short story prequel, "Cradle Planet," before starting episode 1 as well.

2. Many people fast forward through anime openings and endings and sometimes miss after credits scenes. There aren't ALWAYS after credits in GWitch, but there is at least one that is very important, so be diligent and make sure. Some fans have also noticed slight changes to the opening over time each week, in both seasons, and at the end of the credits there is a cool piece of concept art in every episode.

3. GWitch is streaming on YouTube in both sub and English dub for FREE!

Content Warnings

• Gaslighting and manipulation from a family member/parent

• Obviously violence, but not just mechas fighting. There is blood, gore, and dismemberment.

• Force feeding (of an imprisoned character)

• Misogyny

• Xenophobia (not racism as we see it now, in GWitch it is Spacians vs. Earthians)

• Socioeconomic prejudice (in the same way as above)

• Unethical scientific experimentation, cloning (we're not exactly sure how this works yet)

• Torture

• Forced marriage/loss of autonomy

• Sexual harassment

  This is Gundam, so there is a LOT of child death and endangerment in general

• War crimes on civilians

• De-personalization and disassociation

• The dangers of the vacuum of space

The critical success of GWitch is vindication for Gundam fans and creatives who were told for years that a Gundam series starring a girl would never sell. While the misogynists and homophobes raged online, Aerial, the Gundam at the center of GWitch, now has the highest initial sales in history compared to any other gunpla set. As I always say - the girls and the gays move merchandise, and GWitch is no exception.

Truly the only drawback to GWitch is how short it is - you can tell from the worldbuilding how rich of a story they wanted to tell, but, the studio, probably unsure if a Gundam series led by a girl, and a queer one at that, would sell, only gave them 2 seasons to tell it. Gay marriage is not yet legal in Japan, and yet Gundam, one of the largest franchises in the world, has a critically acclaimed series led by a girl, centering her romance with another girl, where she saves the day with LITERAL rainbows and gets a happy ending that many in Gundam never even get.

Suletta can really do it all.

For the unitiated, each issue, I bring you 1 piece of media that has captivated my heart and soul lately, and break apart why it is wonderful, why it is (or could be) popular, and why you will love it, too.

This issue, I am decades late in bringing you the animanga sweeping the internet, starring the silly blonde man in a red coat you have probably seen everywhere....

Trigun

by Yasuhiro Nightow

As a part of my recent project to catch up on all the classic and recent anime I'd missed, I also recently watched Cowboy Bebop for the first time, another classic of the space western anime genre, that I was surprised even to myself that I hadn't seen already. I enjoyed it quite a lot, and saw why it was lauded as a classic with such a large impact. But it didn't have as much of an impact on ME, as Trigun did.

You may ask, "Well, Klaudia, just because they're both popular space western anime, why must you compare them?"

1. Because I was rage baiting you into opening this email.

2. Because people have told me Cowboy Bebop is the best thing since sliced bread for decades and yet it did not hit the way Trigun rearranged my psyche.

"But Klaudia, that may just be your personal taste, and not an objective measure of what is good or not." True! And comparing them doesn't really bring us anything fruitful, since they have very different aims. However, it is the elephant in the room when talking about classic 90s space western anime, so I felt it must be mentioned.

So, what the hell IS Trigun?

Trigun is a space western manga by Yasuhiro Nightow that has been adapted into two anime series, plus a movie. It's a post-apocalyptic story, with the jazz music and existentialism of Cowboy Bebop, the extensive Christian iconography of Evangelion or Devilman, and a central moral quandary about the nature of pacifism.

What does it mean to protect life at all costs? Trigun explores this through its central character, Vash the Stampede, who is a walking contradiction. The pacifist with a gun, the inhuman trying to be human. What gives one person the right to decide if another should live or die, even if that person did wrong? What makes someone a monster?

It also explores common scifi, post-apocalypse, and dystopian tropes, like the ethics of scientific experimentation, mutation, artificial intelligence, and what is ethical to further human survival. Much like how Evangelion's premise centers around the metaphor of the hedgehog's dilemma, Trigun's main theme is relayed through a metaphor of a spider and a butterfly. A young Vash saves a butterfly caught in a spider's web, and his brother Knives, berates him because now the spider will starve. Trying to spoil the least I can, it is a metaphor for what the humans of Trigun's world need to survive on the planet they crashed on. If that thing is a living being as well, who gets to live and die? Who gets to decide?

(Also, yes, the main antagonist, and Vash's brother, is named Knives, or as he is known in some versions, later in the story, MILLIONS KNIVES. Yes, that does mean the entire story is one extended joke about bringing a knife to a gunfight, since Vash is a famous gunslinger. Sometimes anime and manga are not subtle. But do not be fooled. The silly story where a guy named Millions Knives literally has knives sprout out of his body will STILL make you cry.)

The story of Trigun depends on the version, but follows mostly the same beats and resolutions. Neither anime adaptation is a direct adaptation of the manga, and in that way, it has three versions that are in conversation with each other.

The manga, first called Trigun, and then after switching publishers, Trigun: Maximum, began in 1995, and finished in 2007, and the original anime, Trigun, like many back in the day, began AND ended before the manga was finished. It then got a movie in 2010, Trigun: Badlands Rumble, and now the reboot series, Trigun Stampede.

You would enjoy Trigun if you enjoy:

• Yes, Cowboy Bebop

• 10th Doctor era Doctor Who or Torchwood, but especially the part of Doctor Who where a peace loving nonhuman traveling with a few companions always finds their way into sticky situations, and will do anything to make sure nobody, even the "bad guys", die. You know when the Doctor sacrifices their immortal life to constantly help others, painting on a fake smile and living in constant loneliness? And how they're known for wearing long coats and having a secret dark side they try to hide?

• The stark contrast between ridiculous slapstick Looney Tunes level animated comedy and the saddest shit you've ever seen.

• The sexy priest from Fleabag. If you didn't already hear about him through his inadvertent promotion of a scifi novella on Twitter, Trigun has a sexy priest/assassin with a very large gun in the shape of a cross named Nicholas D. Wolfwood. He's not really a priest, and sometimes he says he's an undertaker, which he isn't really either. He wears his outfits in the sluttiest manner possible, he chainsmokes, he puts his entire life on the line for the children of the orphanage he grew up in, and he's doomed by the narrative. (He's literally carrying his own cross to his death. Like Jesus. Like I said before, it's not subtle.) What else could you need in a story?

• The inherent homoeroticism of an angel and the priest with a giant gun who protects him (even though he's complaining about it the whole time).

• The star crossed love story and philosophical tension between a man who won't kill anyone to the point of self injury, and the assassin tasked with protecting him whose entire job is to kill.

• The part of Fullmetal Alchemist that has 1 blonde immortal brother who loves humanity and the other blonde immortal brother is fucked up, crazy, and wants to kill everyone (yes this is the Hohenheim-ification of Vash the Stampede)

• Two non-sexualized, interesting women in anime with guns. Milly Thompson is tall with a BIG gun. Meryl Stryfe is very small with a small gun (and a cape full of small guns). They both are always wearing an adequate amount of clothing and are complex, just as loveable as the male characters, and survive to the very end in every version. An absolute rarity in anime, the bar is very low.

• The inherent comedy of insurance adjusters running after one fucked up little man (in the reboot so far, they are reporters, which is a reference to something I can't spoil at the end of the manga, but it's still funny.)

• Biblically accurate (AKA: eldritch being) angels

• The tragedy of immortality

• A funny little cat that follows the main characters around and does nothing but be funny in the corner (Kuroneko-sama, my beloved).

• A canonical trans woman who shoots big nails at people with her mind (in the reboot she's a child right now and we don't really know if she'll be confirmed to be trans but we're hoping! Elendira the Crimson Nail Hive let's go!)

• A system with DID represented with a surprising amount of tact and nuance (it remains to be seen how Livio and Razlo will be handled in the reboot as well, but both Elendira's trans identity and Livio and Razlo's relationship are handled REMARKABLY well for a 90s-early 2000s manga)

• The part of Star Wars that is the heartbreaking relationship between the pacifist warrior and his brother who took his ideals too far and turned them on the very people he wanted to protect (and who also got burnt to a crisp and had to have his body reconstructed).

• The main character being a literal walking human disaster (this is a direct quote)

• The inherent hilarity of "No, I ACTUALLY have an evil twin brother and everyone thinks I'm him and it ruined my life!"

• When cartoons and 90s anime went balls to the wall with queercoded villain of the week designs and made the craziest little guys possible. There's a guy whose weapon is a saxophone whose name is MIDVALLEY THE HORNFREAK.

• Whatever the fuck leather look this twunk is serving consistently:

I could really go on about the angel and his priest but then I may spoil something for you. They make me feel very insane.

How do I get into Trigun?

Thankfully, it's not a very LONG series, compared to many popular anime and manga. The manga is only 16 volumes, the original anime is only 26 episodes, and the reboot only has 12 episodes so far. Since each version builds on the other but isn't exactly the same, I suggest:

1. Watch the original 90s anime, Trigun.

While the original anime is missing the level of lore and plot detail of the manga, unlike other anime that were being produced as the manga released, it doesn't stray from the story's overall structure that much. Certain events still happen, albeit in slightly different ways, and the ending is mostly the same, with slight variation. While it has some of the faults of a 90s anime (unnecessary sexualization of women not in the source material, running out of budget in the back half of the series, etc), it is also iconic for a reason. It slowly eases you in to the world and unfurls the mystery behind why Vash is the way he is, and the music is bitchin'. If any lore or plot details seem confusing, just know that this version is more focused on the emotional and philosophical beats, and other versions will answer those questions for you.

Trigun '98 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll, and in the US also on Hulu, with both the English dub and in the original Japanese with subtitles. This is one of the few universally beloved dubs, so it's great in either version.

Note: Although, I'm excited to rewatch the original with subtitles, because the dubs of both the original and the reboot lose Wolfwood's canonical twang, which Yasuhiro Nightow indicated by having him speak a specific Japanese dialect in the manga, and which his Japanese voice actor has in the original anime. Nightow said that the characters aren't speaking Japanese in the story, so the interpretation in some translations of an American accent with some sort of twang is the closest).

Also, the same voice actor, the absolute icon Johnny Yong Bosch, dubs Vash in both anime versions, plus the movie!

2. Watch the movie, Trigun: Badlands Rumble.

The 2010 movie is a glimpse into what a modern 2D version of the original anime would look like, with similar designs, and occurring somewhere in the middle of its timeline. It's fun to see these characters in more modern animation, and also Wolfwood wearing Vash's glasses for EXTREMELY gay reasons.

However, much like a lot of mainstream 2010s anime, it really leans into the sexual harassment of female characters that the early episodes of the original anime had (which, again, is pretty OOC from the manga), and whitewashes Wolfwood QUITE a bit.

3. Read the manga.

I know not everyone likes or has the time to read the manga many anime are based on, me included, but I promise, this one's worth it! It's been a while since the English versions were first published, so they're difficult to acquire right now, but there is an ongoing fan project to overhaul the English translation, called Trigun Ultimate Overhaul, that is free to read online.

The main reason you should read the manga at this point is that it will enhance all you experienced in the original anime, and give you a richer experience for the reboot, Trigun Stampede. The reboot is an expansion of the manga, rather than a more direct adaptation, where the mangaka is working with the producers to expand the lore, timeline, and characterization, so reading the manga first will be especially fun.

NOTE: The first two volumes are called Trigun, and the rest are called Trigun Maximum because it switched publishers during original publication. Please make sure you read Trigun first! They're easily in sequence in the Overhaul project, and collected into handy PDFs for easy reading as well. You can even listen to my carefully curated Vashwood playlist as you read!

4. Catch up on the reboot, Trigun Stampede.

The reboot has 1 season so far and is streaming on Crunchyroll, and in the US also on Hulu, in both dub and sub. (The reboot is also phenomenal both ways!)

As I previously stated, Stampede is an expansion of the original story in the manga, with Yasuhiro Nightow's assistance, so any changes are with his blessing. For example, the first season takes place BEFORE the devastating events of July, which in the other two versions have already occurred in the past and we learn about in flashback, so season 1 is almost like a prequel. This is why Milly isn't there yet, because they chose to fully develop Meryl's backstory first, so we can see how they meet and grow close in further installments, which we've never gotten to see before.

The animation, which they took FIVE YEARS to develop, is breathtaking, the music is jaw dropping, and the attention to detail is immense. (Also, don't worry, if you look very closely, Kuroneko-sama does appear in the background of some episodes!) Differences in characterization for characters we know and love like Vash and Wolfwood are because these are younger, less experienced versions of the ones we've seen in other versions, and Stampede will be taking its time showing how they grow and change over time (including, as hinted in some panels, changes to their character designs).

The second upcoming season will be called Trigun Stargaze, and I can’t wait to learn more about it!

5. Message me while doing all these things with your live thoughts so I can have more Trigun friends.

Please. What are your opinions on Vashwood? What about the Polygun? Or Meryl/Milly? I have to know. I have fan fiction recommendations.

Content warnings

This is a SEINEN manga and anime, for ADULT audiences only. Please do not watch or read it with children present.

• Obviously, gun violence and a lot of it

• Partial nudity

• Blood, gore, and body horror, in varying degrees depending on the version, including dismembered body parts, body mutilation, amputated limbs, extensive scarring, bullet wounds

• Unethical scientific experimentation/medical abuse, and body augmentation, including experimenting on and sacrificing children (involving a Christian church-like organization)

• DID (dissasociative identity disorder) due to child abuse

• Animal death and abuse

• Drug-induced hallucination

• Disordered eating (this is more prevalent in the manga and the reboot)

• Sexual harassment, sexual assault, sex trafficking, both discussed or partially shown depending on the version, to people of various genders. The manga includes it involving a child/teen in later volumes. (This isn't like an animanga passing this stuff off as ok, which is sadly very prevalent, it is very much treated as horrifying and wrong, and not done gratuitously, although the harrassing jokes in Badlands Rumble and early parts of the original anime are a bit annoying and frankly out of character. The assault and other physical situations are not explicit but are still graphic in some situations).

• Alcoholism, EXCESSIVE smoking

• Police brutality (this is mostly present in the reboot and is not excessive, however I just wanted to mention it)

• Bugs (there is a character that is a hivemind of insects and controls giant worms)

• Abusive/controlling family members, depersonalization from a family member

• Issues with consent and bodily autonomy (for any gender). In the reboot this does involve...tentacles? Vines? Who can say what those things are. And some weird alien impregnation shit. (Not in an "oh god anime is being weird and horny again" way but in a "this is grotesque and horrible because it is supposed to represent a violation" way). There also is someone with powers that can control how anyone moves.

• Memory loss/amnesia, tied to trauma

• Beheading (in a dream sequence)

• Hanging (not shown but there are bodies afterwards)

• Suicide from a shot to the head (and also murder by shot to the head)

• Gender is a MAJOR theme in Trigun and there is a lot of association of Vash with female imagery and themes both in positive and negative ways. Many see him as transmasc, nonbinary, and/or intersex for various canonical reasons, so the depersonalization and family abuse stuff may be triggering for those with gender dysphoria or gender-related traumas

• Exploitation of women and AFAB bodies (the plants especially)

• Misinterpretation of the Bible and "end times" rhetoric to justify atrocities through Christian-coded cults

Every version of this story has wormed its way into my heart, but also into my mind. It did what I think the best stories do, which is make you think AND feel in equal measure. I was challenged intellectually, entertained thoroughly, and emotionally devastated all in one go. What more could you ask of a story?

Each issue, I bring you 1 piece of media that has captivated my heart and soul lately, and break apart why it is wonderful, why it is (or could be) popular, and why you will love it, too.

All that being said, my first piece of media to analyze is an international phenomenon I am years late to because I knew it would become my entire personality.

drumroll please....

Mó Dào Zǔ Shī, (or MDZS)

by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

MDZS is a Chinese danmei webnovel by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù, referred to by fans as MXTX. You may know MDZS by its extremely popular (especially in the west when it came to Netflix) live action c-drama, The Untamed. The original novel's official English translation is called Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. If you've been in any fan circles, you probably have heard of it by the main relationship it centers, Wangxian, which quite literally broke the fan fiction Archive of Our Own one time.

(Here is a good primer on danmei, and MDZS' role in its popularity, for the uninitiated. I suggest reading this first before you go forward!)

There's a lot of danmei, cultivation novels, serialized Chinese webnovels, and costume C-dramas out there. What makes MDZS so special?

I can't actually answer that, because I am not an expert in any of those genres or mediums, and like many non-Chinese speaking people in the west, MDZS was my gateway drug to some of them. So here I'll be talking about the story on its own, with as few spoilers as possible.

Simply put, there are many pieces of media I love, that bring me joy, solace, or meaning, and that stand out as just stellar works of art. But there are a few, a short list, that literally rewrite my brain chemistry. These stories don't just make me feel an emotion in the moment, but change how I walk through the world. MDZS is one of them.

I fully went into MDZS thinking I'd enjoy it for the love story (which is absolutely 100% off the wall phenomenal), and for the fantasy, because I just love a good fantasy yarn. I did not think I'd come out of it a changed person. This might be a product of when I read it (and watched its adaptations), a weird transitional point in my life, but also now having read some of the author's other work (which is great for other reasons), I know it really is special.

First of all, I am a sucker for a misunderstood antihero kind of story. Another piece of media I consider on that short list of "rewrote my brain chemistry and philosophy on life" is Wicked, and ironically, it has many similarities. The Wicked musical starts with "Good news! She's dead!" which is EXACTLY how MDZS begins, too. Good news! The Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian is dead! Fuck that guy! He sucked! (Followed by 5 volumes of why actually he didn't suck, everybody around him actually did.)

The Lotus Pier's hottest club has everything:

• Obviously, the romance, which is not only genuinely well written, but complex. And yes, it does have a happy ending (although unlike western capital R Romance novels, it is not required in danmei), but boy, will you suffer beforehand. And everyone around them will suffer. But in between the suffering are some of the cutest, but also heartrendingly beautiful, but also funny as hell romantic moments of all time.

• Platonic love held to an equal standard, and depicted with just as much detail and care. The devotion someone would go through for a brother, a sister, a friend, a nephew, or even strangers, is explored with the same depth as the romantic devotion Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian have for each other.

• Genre hopping shenanigans, from teens solving a murder mystery with their fun gay uncle, to TWO tragic love triangles, to a multigenerational war between magical clans, to a teen school romance, to the horror of necromancy and zombies, to 5 tragedies of self sacrifice in a trench coat, and so, so much more.

• Incredibly complex and interesting side characters, while never having the boring hero problem either. Even characters that appear for small moments have such interesting motivations and personalities. This is something I love about the writer MXTX's style, where characters will react in really quite normal ways to when weird things happen, which isn't always common in genre fiction. Usually, characters in these fantastical situations react in the way most necessary to the plot or characterization, but in MDZS, they often just react the same way I, the reader, reacted - "Why are you talking like that, that's so weird?" or "Does this weird anybody out?" or "Let's think of the most logical way to go about this," or "God that guy is such an asshole."

• COMEDY! This story will make you rip your hair out crying most of the time, but it still remains funny as hell at such random moments, kind of like life. This is another testament to MXTX's style, which feels so human and lived in, and despite it being a story about magical cultivators and necromancy, the characters feel so NORMAL. (This is probably why some of the most popular MDZS fanfiction is modern AUs, because these people really do feel like they could fit in any era). Life is full of constant ups and downs, and comedy comes at the weirdest of times, randomly, or as a coping mechanism, or even a form of kindness. A tragic and dark story that can have that perfect balance with comedy will always have a special place in my heart, because it encapsulates the random, wonderful weirdness of living.

• Female characters who slay. Since this is a danmei novel about mostly men, female characters are sometimes few and far between, and even though most danmei is written by women, they can be lacking in lots of danmei and BL stories. There aren't a LOT of female characters in MDZS, and much like the male ones, their survival is uh....not guaranteed, but the ones we do have are so incredibly interesting, to the point where in several of the adaptations their roles are expanded extensively. Their relationships with the male characters are complex and interesting, their personalities lived in and their legacies MATTER to the male characters, not just in a fridge way.

• A refreshing examination of grey morality. There's not a lot of "they're just a fucking bitch" villains and more "well he actually had a bad childhood" villains in popular media anymore, and the discourse has been truly awful for the past few years. But in MDZS, there's several antagonists, which represent the full range of morality. Some are "just a really fucked up guy," some are "I see where he's coming from but he still shouldn't have done that," and some are "that was justified, he's not a villain at all," with everything in between.

• An extremely relevant and important main theme about the subjectivity of truth. Does the truth really matter, if what people believe is what counts in the end? This question powers the entire story, and every character's motivations. As someone who used to work in news, this theme always hits home for me - it doesn't matter what the truth is, if Fox News and the New York Times and Joe Rogan say it's the truth to enough people, they'll believe it, and then it doesn't really matter. And sometimes it doesn't feel worth it to fight back with the facts, or with what is right, because the popular opinion will always win. But what this novel, and stories like it that I love, say, is that even if you are alone in doing the right thing, you should still do it. Even if you suffer GREATLY because of it, even if everyone wrongly hates you for it, you deserve happiness in the end, and it's always worth it to do the right thing, but especially to speak about about the truth. It's this that makes Wei Wuxian so special to me personally as a character.

• A fantasy story where several people are like "I'll allow being gay, but I draw the line at being gay for THAT GUY."

• A story that encapsulates the real life randomness of cruelty, unlike in stories. Tragedies aren't always concocted by some villain, nor are they completely random accidents. Sometimes they're just shitty people doing petty shitty things. Sometimes someone is just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sometimes an accumulation of sorrow COULDN'T have been avoided, or maybe it could have, but the answer is never clear.

• At least 3 plot twists that you REALLY do not want to be spoiled for because even me, resident neurodivergent with pattern recognition who can see a plot twist a mile away, did not see them coming.

So, how do you get into MDZS?

1. Start with the novel, localized in English as Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation.

It's been translated into many languages, and the official English translation is 5 volumes. It's become so popular that many libraries have the physical print volumes and/or ebook versions on Libby/Hoopla. (The books are beautiful, but can get expensive, and have a ton of beautiful art in them, which is why I recommend trying your library first, or going the ebook route to purchase).

Note: If this is your first danmei or cultivation novel and/or you are not a Chinese speaker, the glossary in the back is pretty helpful. I'd avoid reading the character guide because that has spoilers, but brush up on all the honorifics because they DO matter. It's also helpful for when you watch other versions of the story, because the less than stellar subtitles will often translate just the person's name, while the character is actually saying that person's name with a specific honorific or suffix or prefix that matters to their relationship. (Like how Wei Wuxian's sister Jiang Yanli calls him A-Xian versus Wei Wuxian).

I’ve also been told by Mandarin speakers that the pronunciation guide in the back of the novels is not the best, so refer to the animated series, audio drama, or live action C-drama to hear name pronunciations. As far as translation quality, I’ve heard both good and bad about the official translation versus some of the more well known fan translations. I’ve read sections of both and both have their merits, so you should be fine with the official one overall.

2. Watch the donghua (the animated series), localized in English as Master of Diabolism.

After a long wait, the entire donghua is on Crunchyroll! There is no English dub, so just watch it in Chinese with subtitles if needed. Currently, this is my favorite adaptation, but that is because I am partial to animation. The Final Eyes Summoning in the Yi City arc is exactly the way I imagined it reading the book.

Note: Yes, because this is mainland Chinese media it will be censored a bit in some way, but every adaptation finds clever ways to get around it (in the donghua, for example, keep an eye on the blood pool scene where they mysteriously change into red wedding clothes). Other than the audio drama and the manhua, this version sticks the closest to the original novel, but can be on the rushed side on some details, which is why it is easier to read the book first.

3. Watch the chibi animated series, Master of Diabolism Q.

They made this mini series in conjunction to the donghua. I love it very much, and it made me cry even though it is supposed to be funny. It's right on Crunchyroll listed as another season of the main series.

4. Watch the iconic live action c-drama, The Untamed.

Streaming on Netflix in most countries, this version changes a bit about the story, but takes a ton of time to give certain moments and characters more room, and does some really cool things to work around the censorship. The ending is a bit different from the original story in the novel, unlike the donghua, but it's iconic for a reason. They did incredible things on a shoestring budget, and the actors absolutely RAN with the story, with some career starting performances.

Note: If you are a K-drama or Thai drama fan and usually used to shorter series, just be warned that C-dramas tend to be longer and this is over 60 episodes. It's worth it though!

5. Read the manhua (the comic), also localized as Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation.

The English translation is still publishing. You can also check if your library has these volumes or request them, since MDZS is so popular, just like the original novel. It is also one of the most uncensored versions, except the explicit scenes, which the artist very helpfully drew anyway and posts on Twitter occasionally. (This fan posts translations of them once they go up, by the way. They are, obviously, very NSFW.) This story really lends itself to the comic format, and I love the character designs and range of expressions a lot.

6. Message me about it.

I have many thoughts and memes to send you. 😎

Content warnings

• necromancy, death, blood, gore, dead bodies

• stabbing, dismemberment, whipping, corporal punishment, torture, and weirdly, a lot of violent stuff with eyes

• discussion of sexual assault occurring, but no actual depiction of it. (There is a depiction of sexual harassment in at least the animated series I believe)

• some scenes of dubious consent, especially involving drinking, but nothing extremely serious. It's actually a topic that's explored a bit in terms of what certain characters are ok with

• suicide and self harm, both depicted and mentioned, especially connected to homophobia, and familial abuse

• SOME in universe and internalized homophobia, but it's not excessive (and often played as a joke)

Overall, what makes MDZS so rich and meaningful is that it feels balanced in every way. Balance between romantic, platonic, and familial love, balance between tragedy and comedy, balance between epic fantasy and intimate, hyper-characterized human moments, balance between extremes of huge themes. You'll come out of it feeling like you ate the perfect 10 course meal, but not like you're disgustingly full, and be perfectly satisfied on all sides. (Although, MXTX is notorious for leaving some things unexplained, but they end up not mattering that much in the end. Either way, you WILL want to read the fanfiction though, because it is impeccable).

This balance means there's something in there for everyone, so Of COURSE it would appeal to so many, and become an international sensation. (Extremely loveable main characters, and a major plot point being a beautiful song that each adaptation gets stuck in your head, doesn't hurt either).

Thank you for reading this VERY VERY long email, and if you'd like to chat about MDZS or have any questions, reply, or message me on social media (@ kaludiasays on all the platforms). See you next issue!