It's always so funny when Western anime/manga fans complain about there being so many Western European inspired fantasy anime/manga popping up more often. I legit saw a whole conversation between people that amounted to "Ugh, I'm so tired of Generic Western fantasy. I like anime/manga because it's different. West European inspired everywhere, and it's boring." To you. It's boring to you (general 'you,' to be clear.) Honestly, from lurking in East Asian fandom spaces, it seems to me that they like European-inspired fantasy for the same reason they like anime and manga: it's different. I can understand an American or Canadian or someone in Western Europe not wanting something inspired by the Angevins, or the Plantagenets, or William the Conqueror, or the Sun King, or the Borgias, or Napoleon. Do they think all Japanese people want to read about Oda Nobunaga, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the Meiji Restoration, the Date Sodo, the Sengoku Period, etc? Once again, I'm begging people (read: mostly Americans™) to think about the rest of the world and different perspectives. It's okay to just not like things sometimes or just be bored by concepts. We don't have to act like mangaka are evil, awful, no good White supremacists for making Western European inspired fantasies.
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It's also really funny when people act like cultures are hermetically sealed boxes.
80s Japanese fantasy is full of shit that's just somebody's D&D campaign, possibly with Western heavy metal band names tacked on.
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2002 Singles Roundup! (Spin Magazine)
Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins break down this year’s radio gaga…
Nelly - Hot In Herre
Dave: You know this song? Nelly?
Taylor: He could have affiliations, we better be careful.
[Spin:] I don't think he has anymore.
Taylor: Anymore. Once you're in you're never out. I've never even heard this song.
Dave: You hang out at the wrong clubs.
[Spin:] Any idea why he's got a Band-Aid on his face?
Dave: Maybe he popped a zit.
The Hives - Hate To Say I Told You So
Dave: I do love the Hives. This kind of has that 'My Sharona' effect on people. It spans all demographics. It's just a totally bare-essentials rock song.
Taylor: The Stooges did it better.
Dave: Elaborate.
Taylor: It just sounds like if the Stooges were way tighter.
Dave: Or maybe if the Kinks didn't fight so much.
Avril Lavigne - Sk8ter Boi
Dave: Is this Bon Jovi? Don’t tell us. Is Pat Benetar back?
Taylor: I'm sorry, I hate high school lyrics like this. It grosses me out to picture some 50-year-old A&R dude in a limo with her, like [puts arm around imaginary girl], "This is gonna be huge, baby. The kids are going to love this." It's like, God! Go right for the fuckin' mallrats!
Dave: Well she's Canadian.
Taylor: She got a nose ring?
Dave: I don’t know, but I bet her navel's pierced.
Taylor: No, she's got a tattoo of a dolphin on her butt.
The Vines - Get Free
Taylor: I think these guys suck. This song is real fuckin' boring.
Dave: Avril Lavigne's song is more challenging than this. If you really want to challenge the listener give them some of that Canadian stuff.
Taylor: This is just, like, buy your angst at the local Kmart.
[Spin:] Dave, does this Nirvana sound bug you at all?
Dave: It doesn't bother me that much.
Christina Aguilera - Dirrty
Taylor: I'd rather discuss the video. The song doesn't even matter!
Dave: It's a serious career shift.
Taylor: Yeah, like when Guns N' Roses went from Welcome To The Jungle to November Rain. I don't know if it's going to work out for her.
Dave: I think it promotes group sex: it promotes lesbianism.
Taylor: She's a little slut! Just kidding.
Justin Timberlake - Like I Love You
Taylor: Ugh! I'm sorry, Mr Timberlake!
Dave: This is Justin? It sounds like Michael Jackson.
Taylor: Are there young boys in the video? Justin tries to dance like Michael Jackson - he even has the hat on.
Dave: Here's the deal with Justin. I'll go rent Breakin' 2 and put on Thriller, and there you go.
Kylie - Can't Get You Out Of My Head
Dave: Killer song! No question! You're getting ready to hit the clubs, put this on. It's got an old nursery-rhyme melody to it - unforgettable.
Taylor: Kylie - I'm proud of her.
Dave: I've got to say I can't stand it when a singer dances - except for Kylie.
Taylor: Freddie Mercury.
Dave: Freddie didn't dance; he pranced.
Taylor: This songs way better than that Christina Aguilera - Aguilerica.
Dave: I've got an idea! Let's start a Christina Aguleria metal cover band - do all her songs but heavy metal, and call it 'Aguilerica'.
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - By The Way
Dave: What's this song about?
[Spin:] It's about a girl he wants to sleep with who's coming to the show.
Dave: Isn't that what all their songs are about?
Taylor: That's what all our songs are about.
Kelly Osbourne - Papa Don't Preach
Dave: I dig it! She's got a good voice, man.
Taylor: I bet that's Dave Navarro playing guitar.
Dave: He definitely sounds pierced.
Taylor: Whoever's playing guitar has his tits pierced, so it's probably Navarro.
Dave: I'm into Kelly Osbourne. She's the snotty punk-rock kid at your high school - but deep down, she's kinda sensitive.
Dirty Vegas - Days Go By
Dave: Is it a car commercial? You could sell a ton of cars with this song. (adopts portentous car commercial voice) Ford Aspire.
Taylor: A new wave in technology.
Dave: The new Ford Probe!
Taylor: Feel the power. Next!
Eminem - Without Me
Dave I love this. Great song, no question.
Taylor: What's so cool about Eminem is the rhythms of his melodies - he's a step ahead of everybody with his flow. As far as I'm concerned, there's him, Snoop and Kool Keith.
Dave: So good! So Hilarious!
Taylor: Awesome. He's no dummy. He's an intelligent motherfucker.
Dave: Even Moby probably likes this song.
Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles
Taylor: What the hell is this shit? Is it someone's piano recital? Who's Vanessa Carlton?
Dave: Some girl who plays piano.
Taylor: It's kind of like the new Bruce Hornsby. Does the Range play with her? Nah, I don't like it.
Dave: Flashdance.
System Of A Down - Toxicity
Dave: Badass sound.
Taylor: I like the fact music like this is...
Dave: ..challenging people.
Taylor: I'd rather listen to early Genesis or early Rush, just because it's more nostalgic, but it's fucking awesome to me that shit like this is popular.
Dave: Agreed.
Shakira - Underneath Your Clothes
Dave: Shakira sounds like she's got a fuckin' booger in her throat that she's got to cough out. She's like sex education in junior high where you see the cartoon diagrams of a penis entering a vagina; it's just caricatures of sex. That's how I see Shakira. Does that make any sense?
Taylor: No, but I say we leave it at that.
SOURCE: fooarchive.com
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Let's check out the Beijing band OU, this is some wild stuff! =D
Mountain is their most-played song on Spotify, and it's on their 2022 debut album, one. I think fans of GriffO (鬼否) will also like this. The combination of ethereal vocals over proggy-math-metal music is a winner. I've only heard a few tunes so far, but I'm pretty excited about this band.
Lynn Wu-Voc, Anthony Vanacore-Drums, 张晶 Jing Zhang-Gtr, 崔文正 Chris Cui-Bass
I had never heard of this band until a few days ago, when a single from their upcoming album "蘇醒 II: Frailty" appeared in my YT recs. The album is co-produced by Canadian prog-metal mastermind Devin Townsend, and he adds some background growling vocal on the song 淨化 Purge. This is completely intense and insane:
Links: Instagram, Official, InsideOutMusic YT, Spotify, OU乐队 Weibo
Bonus clip: My favorite Devin Townsend song, this is from his 1997 Ocean Machine album:
Some of his music is waaay too heavy for my taste, but other tunes I recommend are Canada, Sit In The Mountain, and Mountain.
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