Additionally, what about ace/aro people? Het trans people? Cis/het gender-non-conforming people? And the one stated previously that really stood out to me: what about those questioning?

There’s no hard line between Us and Them and trying to draw one only hurts us. If there are people causing problems in these spaces, kick them out, but gatekeeping isn’t the right move here.

I’m pretty sure it’s dysmorphia rather than dysphoria. Dysphoria is rooted in an accurate picture of yourself and dysmorphia in an inaccurate one. If a guy starts going to the gym because the idea of not being able to bridal carry his girlfriend makes him feel unmanly, I’d agree that’s some flavor of gender dysphoria. On the other hand, someone like the liver king thinking he still doesn’t have enough muscle is definitely body dysmorphia.

But I’d agree that (similar to dysphoria) the so-called alphas often have dysmorphia of more than just the body - they worry they come across unmanly in all ways of their presentation, regardless of how much “masculine energy” they’re already putting out.

A friend I’m watching this with pointed out that the lady who got isekai’d with the train is actually a reference to an old 2chan creepypasta post! It’s neat that they’re bringing in modern folktales in addition to older ones.

The point is never that we need more democrats. The point is always that we need fewer Republicans. Democrats refuse to make things better, but they typically block things from getting worse, which is a better starting point than anything the GOP would give us.

So please, organize, protest, do whatever activism you can do, but on voting day take the little bit of time and effort to block Republicans from undoing all that hard work, even if it means voting strategically for a pile of shit.

The left will always be fighting against the administration to some extent, and through voting we get to pick our enemy, and the dems are going to be an easier fight and on fewer fronts.

So, fun story: I go to the hidive homepage and it has a “continue watching” section where I see something I don’t recognize. I check the information they gave me - the episode’s title and description - but those are pretty vague and don’t help. So, I click it, guessing it’ll take me to the show’s page… Nope, it takes me to a page about the episode, with basically the same information as I had before. But there’ll be a link to the main show page there, right? Of course not. So, I go to play the episode, hoping there’s a link in there, and the closest I can find is the back button… that takes me back to the episode page. As far as I can tell, there is literally no path from the continue watching section to a show’s page (I did eventually figure out what show it was after looking for the OP in the episode - it was Dark Gathering)

Also check out this screenie I took of the (4-pixel tall) only place the title is written on Whisper Me a Love Song on the front page (because it’s so small in the splash image)

Oh jeez, that sounds rough. I’m glad you were able to recover, even if it took a while. Luckily mine is just a small fracture in one of my wrist bones, not even displaced or anything, so by now I’m mostly just dealing with building back up my range of motion from being immobilized, though it’s been a rough time because it’s my dominant hand, lol.

I definitely recommend Tonari no Yokai, and ya it’s pretty iyashikei. I think it strikes a similar tone to Natsume’s Book of Friends.

I tend to believe that even if something is bad, it’s fine to be an unashamed fan of the parts that you like, and that you should wear your tastes with pride even if they’re unconventional. Because of that, I don’t think I have any anime I’m actually ashamed of liking.

Well, that’s what I’d like to say, but actually there is one, though it’s a manga rather than an anime. As someone with an extremely low tolerance for ecchi (I’m not attracted to ladies), my one shameful fave is Nana & Kaoru, which is basically softcore porn. I’m honestly not sure how I got through the first few chapters, but once you get into it holy shit the character depth and the way that the ecchi scenes inform and develop the relationship between our leads. It’s so well written, oh my god. But on the surface the whole manga is just boobs, butt, and bondage, and I swear that’s not what I’m there for, lol.

Been MIA for a little while because I broke my hand a little bit and it’s been hard to type. Everything’s looking much better now and I seem to be recovering well, so I’m back!

I showed my friends the sampling platter of anime I’d prepared and they chose their winners pretty quickly, so Tonari no Yokai and Windbreaker are joining Dungeon Meshi in our lineup (definitely the best of the season, IMO)

Meanwhile, I’ve trimmed my own watchlist down to what I think is a manageable size: Astro Note, Bartender, Vampire Dormitory, Whisper Me a Love Song, and Yatagarasu. I’m still trying to stick with Spice and Wolf, but I can feel my motivation failing, so I’ve switched to the dub, which should have a lower motivation requirement (since it doesn’t require reading).

In non-seasonal news, I convinced my family to join me to see Spy x Family: Code White in theaters, and it was a really fun time. I’d heard that the movie was accessible to people who aren’t familiar the show, and my mom can confirm that’s true, lol. Very nice little self-contained story that managed to not feel redundant with the show even though it’s written to be optional, and the animation was amazing as expected. My brother and I had a great time and Mom didn’t resent us for taking her (she’s not into animation and I think only went because she felt bad for me and my broken hand, but still seemed to think positively of it in the end), so that’s a complete win.

Building on this, dropped shows could alternatively be put in their own table hidden in a spoiler tag, so that they’d be there for those looking for them, but the post stays looking a bit more tidy.

Based on his design I was expecting Shoin to be a bit of an asshole, but it’s actually pretty refreshing to see a romantic rival that’s a genuinely good dude. I hope he and Mira stay good friends even after Takumi (I assume) wins the love triangle - their friendship just seems so wholesome.

Episode 3 was great, but episodes 1 and 2 i found to be largely very slow and bogged down by dialogue. If it does more short story type episodes with the different stations I’ll be happy to see more, but I’m just not sure which parts we’ve seen are indicative of the overall quality, if that makes sense.

I like how everyone has a bit of an unexpected twist to their character, and I’m interested to see what makes Umemiya so frightening.

We also caught a bit of a glimpse of the underlying politics of the show, I think, with Hiragi’s comments about patrolling rather than raiding. It reminds me of discussions of community- and consent-based policing, and I wonder if the story will draw more parallels going forward.

I mentioned last week that I am in charge of putting forth proposals for a little makeshift anime club with a couple friends, and now that everything’s out, my anime tasting menu is finalized (from which we’ll likely pick 2 or 3):

• Astro Note - captures a retro aesthetic without needing to be tied to the baggage of the past, and manages to be sincere without taking itself too seriously
• Bartender - none of us are big drinkers, but the healing genre is strong with this one and we all love a comfy time
• Spice & Wolf - I’ve been a bit underwhelmed so far, but it’s interesting enough and if my friends latch onto it I’ll have an easy time actually finishing it, which I would like to do either way.
• Tonari no Yokai - this one is delivering big time on both its slice of life elements and its dark mystery plotline
• Whisper Me a Love Song - very cute romance, plus it’s gay
• Wind Breaker - excellent action and very fun characters. Definitely my favorite of the season thus far, but it might just be that it’s delivering on a lot of my personal favorite tropes (specifically: kind-hearted delinquents, lovable weirdos, friendship via punching, and non-romantic tsunderes)

notable other anime:

• Dungeon Meshi - my friends and I are carrying this over from last season and I’m so excited for more every week
• Kaiju No 8 - I passed along this recommendation which I am not going to be able to follow myself due to a sensitivity to gore and body horror

Stuff that didn’t make the cut but I’m still following (for now):

• Appraisal Skill - hasn’t hooked me yet, but I’m curious
• Banished Former Hero - what can I say, I love a good powerpoint
• Train to the End of the World - has some good ideas, but I’m not sure how well it can execute them
• Unnamed Memory - it’s a bit hard to tell where this is going
• Vampire Dormitory - look, everybody has their own anime slop they can’t help but slurp up, and this is mine
• Yatagarasu - episodes 1 and 2 were so different in content and quality I’m not really sure what to expect yet

It’s nice to see that even Sasakura has room to grow, even though I didn’t really understand what happened with his Manhattan. I’m sort of resigned to the fact that I’m not going to really understand the more cocktail-y details (as a non-drinker) so some of the stuff like him giving advice to that junior bartender woman comes across as very “heart of the cards” to me and honestly that’s fine, lol.

We got introduced to more of our supporting cast, who seem cool so far, and we’re getting pieces of the overarching plot. I didn’t really expect it based on last episode, but the fight scene went pretty hard! I’m eager to see more.

I’m liking the show more now that it feels like it’s getting going. Lawrence still feels like more of a supporting character than a main, but at least our little mystery is heating up. So far this smells like a ye olde pump and dump to me.

I liked this episode more than the last one; the dynamic between Flio and Rys is definitely fun. Flio also managed to make some choices without his menu voice telling him to, which is good. Ultimately though I think Rys comes off much more as a waifu than a person, and it gives the whole show a very wish-fulfillment, self-indulgent vibe that’s just not made for me.

The pacing was much better this episode. Hopefully this is the show hitting its stride and we’ll get more nice little short story episodes like this one.

He’s got a lot going for him

This episode really eased a lot of my worries regarding the show’s political leanings. Charlotte said most of what I’d been thinking, and Ars seems to be learning and growing from her perspective.

Unrelated, but Rietz is a good boy and i like him very much.