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[rohanime]

Erased

Wow! Just Wow! This anime was not just an anime, it was an experience. I have heard a lot about the show from a wide variety of people, some who watch a lot of anime, and some who watched this as their very first anime. I found myself becoming really invested in this show for a variety of reasons, but the plot of this thing is just amazing. Real props to the writers, as this anime is truly something special that tackles a genre of film that is pretty played out, but did so in such a unique way that it was almost like a breath of fresh air.

I really feel like this show did a great job highlighting the importance of friendship or community. The first time that Satoru tries to save Kayo from being kidnapped he fails, but when he worked with friends he made along the way the result turned out to be significantly different, as they were able to accomplish something truly great and save Kayo through their friendship and teamwork.

Another thing I found really interesting about the show was the way it depicted family members and people close to victims of serial killers, and the trauma that they went through. Because of what happened to Kayo, Satoru really just is not himself, he retracts into his shell and is unable to really express himself the way he likely would have if it were not for what happened to Kayo. In real life, I could not even imagine anyone close to me passing, so the level of grief that is associated with this is unimaginable to me, though this show did a really good job making us resonate with Satoru and helping us feel just a sliver of what he went through when he lost Kayo.

All in all, I really enjoyed the episodes we watched and I will definitely be finishing the rest of the show on my own time (hopefully after exam time…)

[rohanime]

Cowboy Bebop (4/16/22)

Over the years I have heard some very positive remarks about Cowboy Bepop, and I was definitely not disappointed in my watch-through. To whoever, was the one who recommended this anime to the class, shoutout to you because you just gave me my next obsession, which really sucks because we’re just starting exam season (guess I’m failing my exams for this).

When I first heard the premise, about the adventures of Space Cowboy bounty hunters, I was pretty opposed to watching it. I imagined some Star Wars meets Westworld Esque fiasco but this could not be further from the show. It did not try super hard to be either Cowboy nor Bebop (superior technology) and I feel like it found this really nice middle ground to occupy. 

Something I liked about the show was the dark colors used for a majority of the backgrounds and just the overall scheme of the coloring of the show. I feel like it did a lot to kinda set the mood of scenes, and allowed for the characters to stand out a little bit from these darker backgrounds which is a bit of a pet peeve of mine in other anime I have watched. I think both Space movies and Western movies use this in their color schemes, so the addition of this in this anime was unsurprising yet a very effective detail.

Another very important aspect of the show that stood out to me was the soundtrack, or at least the OP. I’m usually not the biggest fan of OPs, I usually just skip past them, but the one for Cowboy Bepop is an absolute crime to skip. I feel like it simultaneously sets the tone for the show you are about to watch, while also just being something you can rage out to.

All in all, I know for a fact I will be failing an exam this semester because of this show, so to whoever recommended this show, you’ve ruined my life.

[rohanime]

I had a lot of friends tell me about this anime when it came out, but I guess I never really decided to watch it because it never really piqued my interest. Oh how wrong I was. This show was absolutely incredible, it blew me out of the water. Initially I was expecting it to be like the Korean movie Parasyte, but it was pretty different and even though that movie is an absolute masterpiece I think this one was able to hold its own.

The entire concept reminded me a lot of Venom, in the relationship the alien has with Uzumi, but was still able to tell a relatively unique story. In addition, the hierarchy that exists in this society is pretty similar to the one that exists in Venom, because the one at the top in both societies are the parasites, as they are able to control the humans, and humans are pretty powerless to stop it.

I think the show made a pretty good commentary on society, and when it is acceptable to act in self-defense. The alien is initially unwilling to kill any other parasites, but eventually learns that it kinda has to kill other aliens or at least those that have foul intent or intend on killing humans, as a form of justice (actually pretty similar to the way that most humans would say that if a human killed another human then we would likely say that this human deserves to die or should spend the rest of their lives behind bars).

Overall, I would say that I am a pretty big fan of this anime, and I will probably end up watching the rest of it. One thing I forgot to mention until now, is the art style, it was one of my favorites that I’ve watched so far. It managed to keep me engaged even when the show was kinda getting slow. I feel like if the style was different I likely would not have finished episode 23 as I felt myself zoning out, but the way that the parasite and main character’s body interacted kept me engaged.

[rohanime]

This was actually my first ever time reading a manga so it was definitely a new experience. I remember I finished a couple of animes or at least the portion of the anime that was currently out and then people would tell me to go and read the manga to get a satisfactory ending but then instead I would just opt for waiting for the rest of the anime to come out or stop watching the show. All that aside I actually really enjoyed reading this, as normally reading feels like work but this was actually pretty interesting to read, though I did not agree with a lot of the stuff they said.

It was pretty clear pretty quickly that this anime was about some heavily conservative topics that I was not going to agree with but I'm glad that we got the chance to understand these different views and perspectives that the extremist people of Japan have.

I found the roasting of America to be pretty funny as they kept talking about how we essentially crippled Japan and we have implemented an organization that is meant to brainwash the Japanese population for our own benefit. The best part was how much they emphasized that this was not the fault of the Japanese government but rather the fault of the evil Americans who do nothing but ruin things.

I mean to be honest I feel like I could see America doing something of the sort of thing that was described in the anime but at the same time if this type of stuff really did happen this is definitely the last source I would read and trust as it feels like their entire point is to throw shade at America.

Connecting to the article it talked a lot about hierarchy and how hierarchy kinda dissipates in modern society and it's a lot more moveable within, meaning you can start off in one class and then transcend into a higher or lower class.

[rohanime]

Your Name (4/7/2022)

I watched Your Name for the first time over quarantine, and it instantly became my favorite anime movie. The writing really got me invested in the characters and hoping that they all got the happy endings they deserved. When it was revealed that Mitsuha and Taki lived in different time periods, and Mitsuha had been dead for 3 years, I was genuinely so taken aback that writers would ruin such a perfectly crafted love story. However, by the end, I could understand why the writer did what they did, and was even more touched by the ending.

I think something that I do not talk about often in my posts that this anime really deserves a lot of credit for, is the animation style. I don’t know if there’s any other anime animation style that I would choose to describe this way, but the animation of this film was just beautiful. From the landscape to the comet to the fluidity that the characters moved, it was all simply breathtaking.

I felt like the entire concept of the anime was just so creative and unique, as even after they revealed that the two eventual lovers were switching bodies, it took me a minute to process what I’d just heard, and understand what it meant. The concept itself is pretty funny to think about, and the show starts off in a pretty comedic way as both characters go about their own lives, while also having control over the other’s lives and the learning curve of navigating through their eventual lover’s life starts coming into play. Then the tone switches when it is revealed how Mitsuha’s entire reality is now dead. The rollercoaster of emotions produced from this and the forgetting of each other’s names, and their eventual reunitement is what makes this movie so perfect, and why it is such a cult classic.

When it comes to the power dynamics discussed in the article, I’m a little unsure on what exactly to talk about. There doesn’t really seem to be any discrepancy in power between Mitsuha and Taki, but the power difference could be between a man and God. Without the God that Mitsuha’s family prays to, and the shrine that they made, it is likely that Mitusha and her family would be dead, so it was the power of prayer and the God that was able to literally change the world.

[rohanime]

Hetalia: Axis Powers

I’m going to be honest, when I read the title of this anime, I had a very different idea of what it would be about, than what it actually ended up being about. I was imagining something along the lines of Barefoot Gen, but it ended up being pretty solid, blending elements of seriousness and comedy pretty well. I have never really seen something like this, which takes something as serious as World War 2, and then satirizes it, as usually, these types of events are free from the hands of comedy.

I really enjoyed the way that they were able to bring each country to life and bring some aspects of each country to the personified version. I thought they did Italy pretty dirty though, as they were really the butt of every joke, and were just abused beyond belief for some reason. They did provide some good comedic relief but I feel kind of bad for any Italian person watching the show. The way that Italy was represented kind of reminded me of essentialism, and the way that the country was just boiled down to the super basic elements of it and then made to represent the entire country, as Pasta was literally in 50% of Italy’s lines.

I get what the article was talking about, about shows like this being harmful in boiling countries down to their core, but people need to keep in mind, that this show is meant to the comedic, and not taken too seriously. On the other hand this show is also a good way to teach kids about the events of the wars as it is pretty funny so it should keep them engaged throughout. However, this will also cause children to take in the stereotypes that are presented in the show while they are learning about the history of the wars.

Overall I think the show did a great job at combining the right amount of comedy and seriousness while attempting to represent events that are very vital to the world’s history.

[rohanime]

I’m pretty sure I actually played this game before, as when I looked at the clips a wave of nostalgia hit me and I think I had it on the Wii a long time ago. Before it hit me that I had played the game, I had a pretty negative attitude about watching these clips, but after I remembered the game, I started getting pretty excited.

I really liked the animation style they chose for this, as for the time it came out it was pretty revolutionary and was just overall really well done for the time. The bright colors were really appealing to the eye and they drew me in immediately.

There were definitely similar messages to the previous anime we watched as when you are first introduced to Elisyum you are under the impression that it is some type of utopia. However as the cutscenes go on it is revealed that it's pretty much the opposite. Humanities impact on Elisyum has ruined it. It is also heavily implied that certain people pursue a lifestyle in which they can fill their lives with greed and violence and not go for the better option of peace which would probably be better overall for the Earth.

The essay and the game both tackle issues that are very prevalent to modern times as the actions of humans have resulted in the depletion of Earth's resources. Cobb gave a few solutions for this dilemma being Better tech, religion, and indigenous wisdom.

One thing that I think was exceptionally interesting was the character of the Architect. They were trying to fix the problems caused by humanity with the three principles of Cobb and when the other characters realized that he was on their side the whole time I thought this was done really well.

[rohanime]

Nausicaa of the valley of the wind (3/27/2022)

I thought this anime was really refreshing and presented the issue is discussed in a really unique way. When it first started I was a little bored, but it quickly escalated with the chase scene between Lord Jupa and the Ohm.

From my interpretation, this anime was made during the Cold War, which was definitely apparent in the subject matter discussed. In the Cold War, both the countries involved (America and Russia) had developed nuclear weapons or weapons of Mutually Assured Destruction which would essentially mean that if either country actually used them, both countries would really be paying the price. This was a direct parallel to this anime in which both the Pejite and Tolmekia nations were trying to use the Giant Warrior to try and stop each other from being in power, along with trying to burn down the Forest, which would help their nation expand and gain more power. I feel like this movie had a similar sentiment to the other war movies we watched, in that it has an anti-war message, but goes about it in such a unique way. While Barefoot Gen and Grave of the Fireflies show the effect the wars had on human relations, this movie focuses on the impact on the environment as the years of war that had crippled that world is what resulted in the environment of the world being as messed up as it was.

There was definitely also a message for the environment and Earth, in general, being all-powerful, as even with the presence of the Giant Warrior and the war going on between the Pejites and the Tolmekians the environment was still able to prosper, and the Giant Warrior was quickly downed with barely a scratch to the environment. Even though that Giant Warrior if used on humans would have resulted in immense casualties, the environment was able to firm it with little damage.

[rohanime]

Swampcon

Honestly, I enjoyed Swampcon a lot more than I thought I would. This YouTuber I used to watch a lot made a video attending an anime convention a while ago and his video was pretty light hearted and involved messing with some of the people at the convention and just kinda making fun of it a little, while still maintaining a respectful attitude towards everyone in attendance and the event itself. Because of his video I expected to find the event a little funny, because even when we went over Otakus and watched Genshiken in class I never really understood the appeal of these types of conventions, but after attending my attitude completely changed.

Seeing a lot of the attendee’s enthusiasm towards the events going on and others’ cosplays was honestly just really refreshing as it was a new perspective on something I had pretty much written off. You could really tell how much work went into some of the cosplays, as when I asked a couple of the people how much their outfits cost and where they bought them, they described how their outfits were actually completely handmade, which really shocked me. I was completely ignorant to the amount of effort cosplaying really takes, as since I got the pleasure of volunteering at Swampcon as well I was responsible for helping guests find their way around Reitz. During one of my shifts, a couple of the cosplayers came up to me and asked me where the bathroom was and where they could get some water because they were absolutely drenched in sweat because of their outfits and one of them looked very faint like they might be super dehydrated or something. This definitely gave me a deeper appreciation for these cosplayers and what they do. I also did not expect to see so many cosplayers dressed as things outside of anime. There were a lot of people who dressed up as other pop culture characters such as Spongebob, the guy from Minecraft, and for some reason, a lot of Spidermen, which helped me grow a little more accustomed to some of the wilder outfits people were wearing. Before my shifts, I went to check out the art and merchandise they were selling and I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. On the first day, I did not expect to buy anything so I did not bring any money with me, but after I looked through the art they had I found some stuff I actually really liked. The level of craftsmanship that went into some of these is insanely impressive, and I can definitely see why some of the Otakus spend all of their money buying these items and building their collections. On the second day, I ended up going back and buying a keychain as a memento for the experience.

One thing I found pretty interesting was how a lot of the people who definitely were Otakus did not know what the word Otaku meant. Obviously, the word is not English but since these people are so immersed within Japanese culture I would have expected them to know a word that describes themselves.

I can definitely now see how these types of events are influential in creating the Otaku culture, as it is a gathering place for people of all shapes, sizes, races, sexual orientations for them to come together and show their appreciation for something that they're just really passionate about.

One thing that kinda bummed a lot of people out which they complained to me about while I was volunteering was that so many of the panels kept closing and getting canceled. Everyone was mad about the AMV panel getting canceled, which I actually was excited to see as well as I can definitely see the appeal in those. On the second day, I got to volunteer at the Vocaloid panel. A lot of people were really excited to get in and the line wrapped around a good portion of the second floor of the Reitz, but to my surprise, most people only stayed for a few minutes other than the really diehard fans who stayed throughout. I guess this is a more niche form of the fandom as you have to like the songs so much that you don’t even care that it isn’t an actual performance by a person.

The sense of fandom that a lot of the people at Swampcon had reminded me a lot of my own fandom for the NBA and how we talk about our favorite players and buy their jerseys, and I feel like this connection was made a lot clearer when I saw it in person. I guess the only difference is that the Otakus are willing to put in way more effort to look like the people they are fans of, and also they literally want to be the people they obsess over while I think I can speak for most NBA fans when I say as much as I idolize players, when I put on a player’s jersey it’s not because I want to be that person I just want to show my support for the player, so I guess Otakus just go above and beyond in their fandom compared to other fandoms.

Overall, I really enjoyed the event as it really helped broaden my perspective on these types of events and the reasons that the people at the events dress up and are so excited to attend the events. I definitely have an elevated level of respect for all the cosplayers out there and the Otakus that made all the merch and art available at the event, and I’m happy that I decided to volunteer as it got me more involved in the event than I otherwise would have been if left to my own devices.

[rohanime]

I'm going to be totally honest here I really did not like this anime. I just could not get through it I had to work so hard to keep my eyes open. It was just quite boring but I worked really hard and I managed to get through it.

However I did learn quite a bit about animation through this and the variety of techniques used to make anime. I also did like how you could really tell how passionate the characters were about animation. The part where time was not on their side honestly reminded me of a Shonen anime as it kinda gave the same vibes as Gaman and Gambaru as they had to work hard in order to overcome the challenge of the time restriction.

I also liked how they talked about the connection between the hand and the brain. It made me think back to art class in elementary school and how I was significantly the worst artist in the class by a mile and how I thought it was just my brain and the way it was wired that caused me to be as bad as I was at art. However now I know that the thing that causes me to be as bad as art as I am is that my hand is the thing that is limiting me :(.

The art style itself was pretty strange and I feel like it was the way it was for a reason. I feel like the fact that it looked almost rudimentary and unfinished was meant to mirror how the kids in the show are all not professionals and the time limitations that they faced.

I feel like the process of creating the art was displayed pretty well which also helped to give me a larger appreciation for anime and art in general which I guess is good because I'm literally in a class called art appreciation right now.

[rohanime]

I really enjoyed this anime as it was unlike most other animes that I had watched in the past. I've watched a decent amount of Bollywood shows with a similar premise so this reminded me a lot of those but I've never seen this sort of premise in anime. It reminded me of the stuff from the last anime we watched as I felt the continuation of the theme of gender being a performance.

One thing that I found extremely interesting was the differences in the treatment of Sarashina and Takashaki and Nitori. When Sarashina and Takashaki decide to wear a boys uniform to school they are celebrated and welcomed by the school community. I feel like this gives off the idea that masculinity is praised by our society no matter where it comes from while femininity is less often so praised. However when Nitori wears a girls uniform to school they are quickly ostracized and looked down upon by their peers. This negative attention on Nitori seems to catch a few strays as it seems to end up getting focused on Takashaki. The extent to which people hated on Nitori was also quite surprising as they were openly shouting slurs and doing all types of disrespectful stuff. It really is a sign of the times in which this was essentially not really the norm but definitely more acceptable. Maybe this was the attitude towards transgender people at the time in Japan.

I really liked the use of the play to kind of push forward the message that gender is a performance. The crew essentially represented society and the way in which they work together to make the play felt like it represented society's creation of gender norms. The way in which certain people would have issues with the writing or performance of certain lines felt like the people who do not abide by those society made gender norms.

[rohanime]

Aggretsuko (3/17/2022)

This anime was so different compared to anything else we have watched so far this year. It definitely incorporated a very different art style that I have only seen a few times in my life. I remember pretty often whenever they depict Japanese game shows in America television they display this type of hyper animation. The closest thing I could think of would be the bit of Spirited Away when some of the animal spirits in the world were portrayed as very human like and could talk and acted the same way humans would, but this show took that concept and ran with it and portrayed a corporate office environment in which everyone was an animal.

The sexism in the show was pretty clear from early on with the biggest moment that stood out to me being when the boss called getting him coffee a job for women. This clearly states the message that the boss believes that Retsuko has no real skills and that her job should just be to do these very simple menial tasks as she would not be able to handle anything else. We can see this type of sexism in the office but it is also equally apparent in other aspects of the society such as when Retsuko is essentially forced to go on a date with this guy she does not want to date, and the only real choice she had in the situation was whether or not she would be okay marrying the guy.

Something I thought was pretty interesting is that the character’s genders were pretty apparent purely from their mannerisms and the way they behaved, which I feel like relates to the way Butler says that gender is a performance. If you were to take away the clothes and makeup and just present two of the same animal at their base characteristics it would be near impossible to differentiate between them, but because of the voice acting and the different clothing they wear we can easily differentiate between them.

[rohanime]

Sailor Moon 3/15/2022

Prior to watching this anime, I heard a lot of negative things about Sailor Moon. People said that this show had no real plot, and it was just a dumb show in general. However, I did not want to let what these people had said interfere with my own watching of the show so I tried to go in with no bias and develop an opinion as I watched. Upon finishing those four episodes, I have to agree with what those people told me. The plot is literally the exact same in every episode it is so repetitive, and the actual driving plot is so vague as they just say we have to fight the enemy, but we have no idea who the enemy is.

However, there are some positive things I have to say about the show. Traditionally, the female heroes in most media are seen as side characters or often are support to the male heroes, acting as a healer or something of that sort. However, in this anime, the girls are the main crime fighters though in the first two episodes are basically carried through the fight by Tuxedo Mask who just shows up and basically saves Sailor Moon’s life and then leaves. However, after those first two episodes, the Sailor gang is the primary crime fighters that save the city.

I thought episode 4 was really weird, as it taught some very weird lessons to the likely impressionable young people that watched it. It kept preaching that girls have to be skinny, and it made fun of the main character for gaining weight when she already was pretty skinny, which probably is not the best message to teach little girls watching the show. I thought towards the end the episode would have the message of being like no it’s actually okay you don’t need to develop an eating disorder and work yourself to the point where you look borderline malnourished to be viewed as pretty by society, but instead it just kinda mentioned that the main characters crush liked chubby girls.

However, despite all my problems with the episodes I watched, it definitely was an important step in the world of media as we see examples of third-wave feminism as the main character is significantly empowered by Luna and Tuxedo Mask who preach that she should believe in herself and that she should never give up.

[rohanime]

Genshiken (2/23/2022)

In all honesty, I found this group of episodes pretty much carried the same message as the previous ones, but because we have watched so much of the show I feel like I'm not as bored and weirded out by the show as I was during our first watching.

One thing that definitely continued over from the previous two watchings is that the characters are so immersed in anime culture and tropes that they bring some of those tropes over to their real life. One good example of this can be seen when a Genshiken member is talking about going to an anime convention and then all of a sudden the story changes to fighting off his enemies, which is obviously something from an anime, and from here and all the other past similar occurrences we've seen it's pretty clear that the Otakus blend their real lives and anime.

Though the obsession with hentai was still present in parts of the season we can really see growth in some of the characters in that they begin acting like relatively normal people who just fantasize about anime all the time. I feel like I'm certain instances we are that the Otakus have begun to except the life that they live and really start living their life instead of living through anime and imagining that their life is part of an anime.

The characters definitely begin to become more normalized compared to the previous season as most of the characters are able to essentially have two personalities, one inside the club who is a little strange and is super obsessed with anime, and then the normal person who is them whenever they're not in club. It's important for them to show this distinction as it shows that the members of Genshiken have grown up and matured and separated the half of them that behaves like a child from the person they are with the rest of society.

[rohanime]

Genshiken (2/2/2022)

Again, I felt like this anime is not my style, as it covers a topic I just don’t personally relate much to but I felt like overall I started to get a little invested in some of the plot lines as the show went on, and some of the characters like Madarame and Sasahara started to grow on me by the end.

I feel like the reading this week was quite different from the previous reading, in that while the previous reading felt like it came from someone who themselves would identify as an Otaku, this reading clearly came from someone who does not belong to the Otaku community. I felt like the last article talked a lot more about how Otaku’s were just normal people that just so happened to have this weird obsession with anime, but this article did quite the opposite. It kinda made fun of them more than anything in that it called them sexually frustrated and afraid of real human interaction (which some of the characters in the show may be but I feel like it is an unfair stereotype). I think this might be the average person’s perception of the Otaku, and it may be why Sasahara was so hesitant to join the club in the first set of episodes. Similarly, Ogiue is also pretty hesitant to join the club as she does not want the rest of the school to view her with that stereotype in mind.

I feel like the show kinda contrasts the above viewpoint that Otaku are super different from the average person in that they immerse us so much into their world that some of the weird stuff they do and the strange behaviors that they have become commonplace because of how much we are exposed to said behaviors throughout the course of the show. By the end, we regard them as different from the average person for sure, but definitely not as different as the article leads us to believe.

One thing that was pretty weird to me was how Ogiue continues to confuse reality with simulation, in that she believed that Sasahara and Madarame were a couple because of her obsession with Boy Love anime, which she imagined the two boys as part of, when in reality they are not romantically attracted to one another. This is just another example of how Otaku’s let reality become blurred because of how much they watch anime and how much they let anime influence their perception on reality.

[rohanime]

Genshiken (2/27/2022)

Personally, this anime just wasn't really my speed making it the first anime of the year that I didn't really like. I think it was because it was too slice of life and was just about a club at a school and wasn't about anything particularly cool that couldn't be found outside this anime.

I knew a lot of people like the members of Genshiken in high school and though I wasn't best friends with any of them I think most of them were pretty normal. I found it a little ironic how Otakus are supposed to be super isolated from society spending all their time watching anime and analyzing it, they literally form a club in school in order to not be isolated (granted the people who will surround them in the club are also fellow Otakus) which is kinda just going against what they normally would be doing. During the first episode, I thought that most of the kids in the club were pretty weird as they were talking about anime in such an obsessive manner that I'd never seen before. However as the episodes go on the characters slowly become closer and closer to normal people as we see that even though they have this obsession with anime, they are still the same as everyone else (other than the hentai they had that was still pretty weird).

I really liked the inclusion of Saki and Kosuka, as Kosuka shows us that basically anybody can be a Otaku, as he is very different in both personality and looks from the rest of the Otakus. The inclusion of Saki provides us with someone judging the members of the club, with an outside perspective and she thinks all the members are pretty weird, other than Kosuka who she seems to have a crush on. Despite Saki judging the members of the club pretty heavily for the way they act and their interests in general, the Genshiken don't seem phased by this at all and seem more focused on their own thing and don't let what others say mess with them.

[rohanime]

Azuma - Database Animals (2/24/22)

This ready was quite a doozy. I am going, to be honest, I had a pretty hard time understanding what this was truly about, but after going over it a few times I think I may have understood enough to talk about the paper in a way that would be considered ‘not too stupid’.

I really liked how the paper discussed how simulation and simulacra are becoming an increasingly everpresent part of Japanese culture. I guess my interpretation of Otaku is people who are obsessed with anime, and their life essentially revolves around it. I think this word has a similar meaning to the American word “weeb” which is used to refer to people who are obsessed with anime. They are often the people who make fan art for their favorite animes and recreate the anime in any way they can, whether that be making fan edits or dressing up in cosplay of their favorite characters. In these situations, the reality is based on actual reality, day to day life, and then the simulation is the anime that the Otaku’s watch, and finally the simulacra are their fan interpretation of the medium, turning it into whatever they want to do with it.

For most normal people, the difference between simulation, and simulacra may be hard to differentiate as we may not know that a certain fan made edit did not actually happen in real life, whereas for Otaku’s they have a hard time telling the difference between simulation, simulacra and reality itself because of how obsessed they are with their medium of simulation, and how they likely spend more time working on their simulacra and watching their form of simulation than they do actually engaging with real people and the real world. This results in the real world, being of secondary importance to them.

The author also discussed how the spin-offs made by fans of the original simulation may take away some importance from the actual simulation because they grow in importance and make people focus on something that perhaps was not the author’s intention of having the viewers focus on. For example, (not in anime) in the show How I Met Your Mother, people were super mad about the ending, and so made a bunch of fan fiction and theories about certain characters and made different endings than the writer’s original ending.