He thinks that several means
seven and there's a whole conversation at tribal about it. Well also like when I think
several don't do this. I think seven or more don't
do, do not do this to me. I usually think like 10. It's three or more. Really? It's beyond a few is several. I'm about to look it up, but a few
for me is like three to five, bro. Like one to five beyond a few is several. Let's have a neutral party. We can't do this. Anyway, I only heard,
I'm not gonna do this. I only heard it was unhinged because
I was listening to the besties. Several is seven, eight, or nine. Absolutely not. No. Revisionist history, bro. That's ridiculous. History is written by the victors. Mwah. Coming to you from Crunchyroll
HQ, this is The Anime Effect. Each week we bring you the latest news
and views from the shows you love. It's pop culture with an anime lens. Today we are talking about a very special
anime that just took the guinness world record for the most in demand Not just
anime, but overall animated tv show. Oh, can you guess what it is? Don't say it I was surprised but also not surprised. Kind of same, we'll talk about it. Yeah, we've got a switch up for the
live action one punch man movie. That's right. That's happening Um, and more anime
news from the week and for our main story this week, after weeks of jamming
the isekai button, we're going to keep doing it, uh, in the main story. But no, we've, we've actually gotten
some questions about like, can we dive a little deeper into isekai? So like, we're going to give like kind
of a, an abridged history, some of the quintessential shows and talk about
why people love the genre so much. So yeah, we're breaking down
isekai in our main story. Um, I'm your host Nick Friedman, it's me,
LeAlec Murray, and I'm Leah President. And we're here once again to see just how
powerful the effect of anime really is. Who watched Kaiju No. 8 this week? I did! So I specifically set an alarm
to make sure that I was up when the live broadcast happened. It was super cool. This gave me so many, like, Toonami,
Saturday morning cartoon kind of feels where it's like, I'm getting up. At nine o'clock to watch this specific
show, I'm going to have a time. The only difference is now I can
actually see what's happening around the internet while it's happening
because previously, as we were growing up, we did not have the kind of access. Bring back live tweeting. But it was, it was legitimately
like a moment for sure. Yeah. So if you're wondering what we're
talking about, so Crunchyroll, uh, live broadcast the first episode of Kaiju No. 8 with subtitles at the exact same time
as it was airing on Japanese television. So it's like a legitimate moment
by moment simulcast the ad breaks were timed to The Japan ad breaks
as close as you can possibly get it. Yes. As close as you can Get it. As close as you can possibly get it. Um, and yeah, I, I, I also got up and,
and watched it just 'cause I was like, I gotta, I gotta see what this is like
to, you know, watch anime as it's airing. And, um, it was, it was awesome. I can't wait to see how they adapt
the rest of this kind of first part of the series, but, uh, but yeah. So, uh, new episodes
are gonna stream weekly. Yeah. Weekly. Mm-Hmm. as they happen in Japan. Yeah. And then of course, uh, day and
date dub that'll drop after that. And of course it's
streaming on Crunchyroll. If you checked out the live broadcast,
let us know in the comments. I'm curious. People saddled up with their,
uh, cereal and I did, man. It was, it was a moment. It was a moment with their
bananas and shock tarts. Oh no. Oh no. I hope you have not relived
that in your adulthood. No, but I did have a lot of
Sour Patch Kids yesterday. Oh, well, you see, yeah, we're gonna get like Like a thousand
yard stare from the citric acid. Next up, we're going to get into the news. You know, we like to keep you on the
latest, including Jujutsu Kaisen's continued domination in the anime
world and the pop culture world. How Gundam is celebrating
its 45th anniversary. Damn. Yeah, damn. Wow. And a new clothing collab for Spy Family. I'm ex- so excited about that one. So all that in just a sec. All right, so let's get
into these headlines. The first story. It's a little hard for me to swallow. It's a little tough for me. So Nick, you take this away. I was going to take it anyway. Our fi- cause he's therst newsman. Our first story this week. Guinness World Records has named
Jujutsu Kaisen the most in demand anime, the most popular anime, basically. So just recently, JJK was officially
named the most in demand, not just anime, but animated television show. Guinness World Records, uh, calculates
demand by looking at how much, like, attention or engagement or, like,
kind of, like, general fan desire. That's cool to have a metrics for that. Yeah, I do want to see
the metrics for that. Fact check. Fact check. Fact check Guinness. Not that I don't believe it, but like,
there are a lot of, uh, movers and shakers in the anime industry, so. True, and of course, uh,
viewership for the show. Yeah, as it's, as it's expressed by fans. Oh, they, it actually says it right here,
uh, calculated by Parrot Analytics, so shout out Parrot Analytics, I guess. But yeah, so I'm just going to stop
there before I give Leah the bad news that they were referring to. Oh I already know, I already know. I mean, just from hearing that, like,
what do you, what do you guys think? Like, does this, does this line up with
what you see in the anime fan experience. No, actually, like it really, no,
actually, to be completely honest, I thought it would be one piece. I, you know, especially with the search
that one piece is on right now, right? Like you thought it would be one
piece or like, is or a Dragon Ball or something like that. But then you think about it and both
of those shows essentially are kind of legacy shows, like they've been
around for a while and Naruto even. Yeah, Naruto, Bleach, like there's there's
so many shows like that could be in that category of most in demand anime. But I think it also has to do with. Accessibility, because we
talk about that all the time. Like it's also one of the most
popular selling mangas as well, too. So I think that plays a lot into it and
people just like actively seeking it out. I think for me, this completely aligns
with kind of what I'm seeing in the anime community, which is These conversations
about shows like Jujutsu Kaisen and the hold on culture, I mean, we talked
about it with the Eclipse last week, like they're happening all the time and
in all of the places where, you know, for example, like me and you might not
be from a social media perspective. And so I think, you know, obviously
part of that is colored by what we're, you know, What we see online, we see
on forums or social media, um, but I, I think it's, it's the fact that there
is probably a large younger fan base. I think so too. I think that plays a lot into it. That may not be with some
of those other shows. Right. It's because of fortnite. Right. No, that's, that's a good point. Fortnite is a good, is
a good call out too. Both of those are very good call outs. I mean, because, you know, kids are
always going to drive the metric, right? Like, you know, when, when I was
working in video games, like it was the, Yes, you had to sell to the kids,
but you had to sell to the parent more because they had the pocketbook It's funny you mentioned that because my
sister actually asked me for 20 bucks to get the Go Jo skin . Yeah, there you go. So I was like- there you go right there. But then I support that I'll, I
will, uh, invest in that for you. Right. But to your Fortnite point, you know,
they made a really big, anytime anything shows up on Fortnite, they make a epic,
makes a really big deal out of it. But I think with anime, I think there's
a specific amount of attention that's put on it because you think about it, right? When Dragon Ball showed up, when
Naruto showed up, when Jujutsu showed up, they, it felt like they
dialed it up just a little bit more. And the fan base is like, that
group is larger than ever before. You know, Dragon Ball may have taken
this record or Naruto may have taken this record when it was airing, but
when you think about now, I mean, the fact that this was calculated during
the Shibuya Incident arc, for example, like, you couldn't turn anywhere in
anime conversation without seeing someone mention JJK, and I actually think, it's
interesting, so here's the bad news, Leah, um, for you, the, they actually,
JJK takes the title from Attack on Titan, Which had actually been holding that
record since 2020 when you think about final season airing and all of that, so. How do you feel about that? I'm in mourning. I'm in mourning. Gosh, you know, four years of holding
a world record isn't good enough. Uh, no, it's not. I, well, it'll always be
number one in my heart. Fair. So with that said, because Attack on Titan
held it for four years, how long do you actually see Jujutsu holding onto it? Because we know Jujutsu is
not ending anytime soon. I actually think it'll probably stay up
there because I think the conversation around Jujutsu Kaisen, I mean, the
seasons are relatively digestible from a, Viewing time standpoint, the content
itself is like, it gives me anxiety, so. Yeah it's dark. 100 percent. Like people are going to rewatch it. People are going to clip moments. People are going to talk about it. I think about it the way that like
when Game of Thrones was at its peak and even when it wasn't airing, if you
looked at like volume of conversation, the conversation was still going,
we're always talking about it and theorizing what was going to happen next. This is a little bit different
because as far as the anime goes, it's been sticking fairly closely to
the manga, whereas Game of Thrones, obviously, anything was game against
the books, but, um, but I don't know. I think we also just live in a totally
different world now where like, It could be out tomorrow, or, that's true. It's true. We could be saying the
same thing in 10 years. Yeah. So, Mm-Hmm. Speaking about another anime
that we've been talking about for a, a really long time. Mm-Hmm. um, one Punch Man. So we got some news this week that
the Live Action One Punch Man movie. Yes. Honestly, the Live Action One
Punch Man movie is happening. I honestly forgot it was even announced. So yeah, here we are. But they, uh, we, we
finally got an update on it. That Dan Harmon, creator of
community, I love community, um, and Heather Ann Campbell, who, uh, has
worked on like the Eric Andre show. The show is so unhinged. They're, I know, they're, uh,
Best talk show in existence. So unhinged. They're going to rewrite the script. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, it's really interesting to see,
like, who has been brought in, Their back, you know, the comedy background that they
have, um, the type of comedy we're talking unhinged comedy, surrealism, comedy. Because that's basically
what one punch is. So this is this, this makes sense that
they would, they would call these two people in to be like, Hey, the script
is okay where it's at, but we really need to meet the source material. Yeah. I feel like after one piece live
actually came out, I'm much more willing to give this a like fair shot. Yeah, I would agree. Like, and just see like be open minded
and see like what they put together. Because up until then, like
I didn't have like the most enthusiastic, no don't remind me. Like attitude towards live actions. Um, just because we've seen them go wrong. Like, Okay, I mean, but I think one of
the things that has changed and one of the things that I love about the one piece
live action is you have People who grew up with the series, you have fans that
care about it, who are now in a position to create that art and bring that to life. You can do something about it. Yeah. And there, you know, when you do see
success in that space, they then have power with the studios and the execs
to make the right adjustments to say like, Hey, we don't actually have to
apologize for what anime is or does. We can bring that to life on the
big screen the way that we did with comic book movies or Westerns, right? I think one of the things that's, that's,
that I've really loved about this project. Um, we don't know a lot about it,
but we do know that Justin Lin, who directed my favorite Fast and the
Furious movie, Tokyo Drift, and Star Trek Beyond, which totally rips. It's so good. I don't think people have the
same sentiment for that movie. No, they super don't. But it's so good! It's so good. Um, it's basically a space
Fast and Furious movie. Yeah, it is. That's fine. But yeah, so Justin Lin is directing. And when you think about
like, action and over the top. Set pieces like he's he's he would be the
perfect guy to do that right now because that's all of like all of his movies have
been like that recently like it's all big explosions set pieces the why are we why
do we have cars in space like all this like random random stuff right so I feel
like he's the perfect one to tap into the. The appeal of one punch is that it's
so random on top of it being like just a power fantasy story, right? And that's kind of what you need is
somebody that can give you like big moments and then you have You know, Dan
Harmon and Heather Ann coming in and saying hey, like we're gonna give you
the comedy bits, too Yeah, so I think there's to your point Leah I think this
is probably worth giving a chance to because it's you have the right pieces
in place Yeah, right Which also kind of gives me faith for like the Naruto live
action that we know is happening as well. So there's a lot of like, there's a
lot of people in positions that are, you know, on creative teams that are
making sure that this kind of, you know, it pops off where it needs to be. Hopefully. Yeah. Well, uh, we'll see, we'll see what
other updates come out of it, but, but I'm excited to just see where this
goes, but real quick, and we can't sit on this one for a while, but we have to
give an update on Sonic the Hedgehog 3. I know we were all hoping that
Hayden Christensen was going to be voicing Shadow, but Keanu Reeves is
going to voice Shadow the Hedgehog. It's such a good pick, bro. It's such a good pick. Like, I don't know who I wanted
for this, to be completely honest. You didn't want Hayden Christensen? Well, no, I'm saying I
didn't know who I wanted. I mean, if it was Hayden Christensen, I
would have been like, yeah, okay, yeah. Yeah, yeah. They're going to put a
gratuitous, uh, matrix bend in it. I'm already calling it. OK, I feel like they already have. Like, I feel like the first
Sonic movie had a matrix. It did. So they'll run it back. You owe me five dollars
if it's in the movie. And the listeners. You know it's gonna happen! I'm going to be rich. Oh, I thought you said you're going
to give them all five dollars. No, no, no. There's going to be news
stories about this podcast. If shadow does a matrix bend 10. 6 million, I don't know. Do we have that many listening? No, we don't. But no, you're right. It's there. There will be a gratuitous, uh,
matrix reference and that's fine. Like I, here's the thing
and we can move off this. Are you sure? Yeah. And another thing! Our lead story this week, Lee
talks about Keeanu Reeves. I waxed poetic about
Sonic for three hours. Um, no, but think about the cast,
like the voice cast for this movie, including like Jim Carrey. Yeah. It's so good. It's like I didn't know I
wanted these people in a movie together, and now I have them. So, I think this is, this
is absolutely fantastic. I'm so excited. Jim Carrey is like a fun
cryptid nowadays, too. His projects are so few and far between. He just shows up when he wants to,
does some fun stuff, and then leaves. It's just so fun that he chose to do this. I agree. It's just great. Speaking of fun, how about Gundam? I don't know. I don't know, buddy. Pass. Fun Gundam. Hard pass. Alright, Lee. Lee, you should take this one. You're the gundam guy. Gundam Anime shares big plans for
45th anniversary and they show off some cool celebratory art. This art looks really It looks like the Eclipse. It's so good. So, the artwork that we are
referring to is it's a picture of RX 78 2 and a new moon. It's a very like Cool. Like just stoic. Like I want to poster of it. Let me get it printed out
on like a wall scroll. Yeah. So there were a ton of in person
events in Japan for this, um, to celebrate art showcases, uh, empty
gunpla, recycling events, anything that you can and or display for Gundam
was celebrated as a part of this. And it's so great because a part of
this announcement as well too, um, was that they're Also in the 30th
anniversary pocket for G Gundam, which is my favorite Gundam, but there's
also going to be a new G Gundam project as part of this 30th slash 45th
anniversary thing that's happening. I'm honestly really surprised that we
didn't get like any more announcements around this as well to outside of
like, this is just kicking it off. Yeah, it's just a, it's just a kickoff,
but the Gundam Seed movie, I believe is in, in theaters right now as well, too. So there's a lot of Gundam that's
happening and I think there'll be a lot of other Gundam stuff that'll happen. Especially, one of the things
I'm excited about is like, Witch from Mercury kind of really. re energized my love for gundam. It did. Yeah, because it picked up
a whole bunch of new fans. Yeah, it really did. That aren't into the genre. I think like, so for reference, like,
I think, you know, Unicorn did a lot of kind of like, kind of reactivating people. They're like, oh, Gundam is still a thing. The button, the reactivating button. But I think Witch from Mercury, to you
guys point, pulled in a lot of new fans. reactivated, like, you know, a
genre that you already loved. Um, and I'm just excited with the, to, to
see what they do with this going forward. Uh, yeah. More suletta. All of it. Uh, and I know they just
retired the, the moving RX 78. That was hate that I didn't
get to see it in real life. So are you talking about like the giant? Yeah, the giant full size. Yeah. Dude, that's so cool. Yeah, they had like when they were when
they retired it like it moved it did like a little salute and did like the
bend down and I was like, oh my god, I just the fact that I didn't get to Japan
to just listen to that OG theme song. Yeah, and see that thing move in person. I'm just I'm upset. Yeah, I'm upset. See that thing move in person. Next up, um, bait. Yeah, the, uh, streetwear brand. Yep. Shout out to Bait. Love those kids. Has dropped a spy family line. It's so good. It's really good. It is so cute. There is this one shirt
that has Anya- the t shirt? And the giant penguin. Oh I need that hoodie bro. Yeah that's the one I'm
thinking about, yeah. Oh it's t shirt and hoodie. So, I mean look if you're gonna go
see the movie and you need something for the Ooting as Anya would put it. I mean, look no further. Like these, these look pretty sweet. I always love it when a, when
an anime graphic line actually like looks, looks really good. If you want to check out the, the full
collection, head over to Crunchyroll News. You were talking about going on
an ooting for the, for the movie. I wonder if it's going to start a
renaissance of people getting peanuts at the movie theater for the first time
in like 40 years, like they're going to bring out the old crusty bag from the
theater workers are like, absolutely not. Like we're already cleaning
up, cleaning like popcorn. Mustard, ketchup, refuse,
like just so much. People have the worst theater etiquette. They believe in like the
full bucket in the chair. Could not be me. It's like people eat at the movies
like they're at medieval times. Yes. Like they're like, I can throw all
this on the ground and it'll suck into the floor smart house style. Smart house reference. It feeds the beast that lives
under the, under the stairs. On this day, we have made a Disney channel
original movie smart house reference. If you haven't seen it, I
think it's on Disney Plus. Oh, I didn't even catch that. Okay, it's main story time. You guys ready to talk about
isekai anime for a bit? For sure. Gotta get out the giant isekai
button and put it on the table. I wanna be able to die and go to a
world where I can talk about isekai. Every day, all the time. That's here. Oh my god, it's working at Crunchyroll. You didn't have to die for it. Yeah, I'm alive. For our main story this week we
are breaking down the isekai genre. It's history, it's inspirations,
it's standout shows. And of course talking about
some of our favorites. So, Lee is going to take us
through that coming up next. Isekai, Isekai, Isekai, Isekai,
Isekai, Isekai, Isekai, isekai. Have you ever seen that study
about like the power of chanting? No. No. Is that like if like a large crowd
starts chanting something, they'll do it? It's like the psychology
of like why people chant. Huh. So like Tron Legacy 4K release. I don't know if it's an official
study, but it was in like an essay. Hey if we chant it enough it'll happen. I feel like it'll, I feel
like it's going to happen. It's got to, yeah, it's got to. All right. Isekai. Isekai recently was welcomed into
the Oxford English dictionary. Webster's dictionary. We can't do it every episode. We can't. A Japanese genre of science or fantasy
fiction featuring a protagonist who is transported to or reincarnated in a
different strange or unfamiliar world. That is the Oxford English
Dictionary definition. I wish that was me. Hmm. I wish that were me. This sounded God, I wish that were me. Okay, so As he gives this mile yard stare. So, okay, people listening or
watching at home, like, if you know, you know, with Isekai, right? If, when we say the word Isekai, you
know what it means, you know, the anime that kind of fall under that category. For those that don't know, for newer
anime fans, for curious fans, what, like, what was the start of Isekai? Like, where does Isekai
trace its origins back to? So there's a lot of discourse, right? Of where it started. There's, there always is. Um, but, you know, some argue
that, uh, Dante Alighieri's poem, uh, Dante's Inferno. But, you know, that's a lot of
where people say the isekai genre kind of, you know, kind of kicked
off, kind of started its baby seat. I mean, like, I mean, I guess depending on
your beliefs, heaven, hell, and purgatory, are they different realms and worlds? I guess. Or are they layers of Or this is
getting like, really, let's get into- we're getting really meta about this. I'm thinking, like, if we're thinking
about, like, older texts and stories, would Alice in Wonderland count? I mean, she doesn't die, but
she does get transported. I, I, I would say yes. I think Alice in Wonderland is definitely
a great, like, early example, at least early West, you know, Western
example of, like, this concept of being transported to another world. Um, most consider the story of, you
know, Urashima Taro as the first Isekai story, which is a fairy tale about a
fisherman who, after rescuing a turtle from harm, is rewarded with a trip
to the Dragon Palace under the ocean. When he emerges from the ocean,
he finds out he hasn't been gone for days like he thought. Instead, 100 years have passed. Wow. I wonder if this inspired
Avatar The Last Airbender. It's possible. It's possible. So, the story of Urashima Taro, the
idea that he goes to the Dragon Palace under the ocean, again I think my
question is like, is this dragon palace exist in another realm or is it on the
same earth that we know of because we talked about this Last week, I think,
where a time travel element, it's not really necessarily time travel, but
like time having passed, kind of like Freiren, isn't considered isekai, right? It's more, it's more in line with like
fantasy, like core fantasy or sci fi. Or even just the time travel genre. Depending on the narrative,
it could be sci fi too. True. Like, uh, what's the movie where
Matthew McConaughey is like, Oh, Floating Space Interstellar. Wow. Was it you want to take that again? I was like, what is he doing in the movie? That was like a bad summation of what
the topics of the movie actually are. The fact that they did it and you got it. That's all you need right there. Yeah. I saw it connect in your
eyes when I woooaahhh There was there was a
specific connection there. It was just like an
interstellar interstellar. Um, But no, I think, I think you bringing
up that a lot of people consider that to be the origin, especially in Japan, is
just this idea that There is the world that we know and the story in the life
that we know, and then something happens in the story and that completely changes. You could trace a lot of different
genres back to an origin point like that. When you think about it,
like fallout, for example. Love fallout. Where the world is destroyed in nuclear
war, and then it's about the people living afterwards, like, to me, that
follows a similar narrative, but it might not necessarily be considered isekai. So I guess my next question
there is like, knowing that. It's kind of like a keystone story. What do you think makes isekai so
appealing to not even just anime fans? We know there's a lot of isekai
in anime, but these kinds of stories and other media. Um, I think the appeal is specifically
geared towards People that are like, if I had this opportunity,
like, if I had the opportunity to restart my life, what would I do? You know how, like, a lot of
shonen plays into the, the more, like, power fantasy bit of it? Isekai is more of the, I'm
getting a second chance. What can I do with this second chance? Because that's a lot of where
the stories are based, right? It's like, oh, I made
a slime, for instance. I'm reincarnated as a slime. What can I do? What are my powers? How can I make myself better than once I
stopped freaking out once I stop freaking out that I'm, you know, no longer human,
you know, quote unquote, like, how can I change my life for the better with all the
knowledge with the knowledge that I have? It doesn't always lead like you're not
always like, Get hit by the Isekai bus and going straight into like a hero's
journey, night adventure in another world. Some of them are just like, easy, like, I
died in this world, like fluffy paradise. Like, I died in this world and now,
like, I'm surrounded by cute animals and my mission is to just pet all of them. Yeah, the main character was specifically
like, do not bring me back for no BS, I just want to pet animals. That's it. I want to live my life
as easy as possible. So I know that reincarnation
is a big piece of this. We also know that being summoned in
another world also counts for isekai. Yeah. But I think about a show like
Oshi no Ko, where reincarnation is Playing into the story. Episode one spoilers. Is that isekai? I think so, but it's not a different
world, but it's not a different world. You are reincarnated into the same world. Well, how different are our
lives from those of celebrities? Some may say we come from a
different world . Anyway, I'm kind of, I'm kind of hearing you. Did I sell it? Um, I don't know. I mean, did I eat, but I think,
I think what we're getting to is that, yeah, there's isekai, right? Mm-Hmm. . There's, there are very
clear examples of isekai. Mm-Hmm. , quintessential isekai anime. Inuyasha, slime, you mentioned slime,
Overlord, Mushoku Tensei, Konosuba. Oh my god, would Spirited
Away count as an isekai? Because she enters that portal
and like she is in another world. Goes into a whole other world
and is trying to like escape that world with her parents. We're not scholars. We don't pretend to be. We don't have our master's degrees. In my layman's opinion,
I qualify it stamp. I I don't see why it's
not, it wouldn't be though. I'm not gonna say it is, I'm
not gonna say it's not, but you make a compelling argument. Hey now. You're an allstar.. They know. Um, and then of course, like reverse
isekai is devil is a part timer. Love that so funny. We've talked about that show. Sasuke and peeps were like, he's
Sasuke is able to go back and forth. Right? So there's an The thing about this genre
too is that it just continues to evolve. I think so. You brought up before where it's
like, you know, people just being, you know, summoned to another world. I mean, the one that comes to
mind first is a shield hero. Yeah. Um, and you know, he's summoned,
he's given the shield and immediately outcasted, right? But the world is aware, but the world
is aware, is aware that they are. You know, they're not from, you
know, the, their plane of existence. Um, I just started watching,
what's the one this season, uh, Chillin in Another World. With my level two super T powers. Yeah, I started watching that
because I was like, oh, you know, I see what it's about because I
was just, you know, binging anime. That's me playing The sims. And, uh. Motherload! Motherload! And the same thing happens to the
main character there too, like he gets someone to be this hero and they
immediately outcast him because the next person they summon has all these
stats and then they're like, Nope, you have to go live in this death forest. And then he immediately becomes O. P. and he's like, Oh, okay, well,
I got to find a job and I got to find a place to live. Gosh, ain't that right. Yeah, us leaving college and
going into the real world. Right, right, right. Yeah. We are, uh, actually when
you leave college or Isekai. You have to go into a death forest. Because you have to go
into the real world. We're getting too technical here. We're gonna get a job. Um, but no, I mean, we, like, we
have mentioned a lot of different shows in just the last minute. So many shows. So much Isekai. Why do you think people feel
like there is too much Isekai? It's with any other popular genre, right? So I the only thing I can really
compare it to is the superhero genre that's in film right now Yeah, like
a lot of people especially in the advent of like streaming becoming more
popular You saw a lot more companies like, you know, Disney Marvel here. Yeah, they were like, we're just
going to start pumping out as much superhero content as possible and
to a point to where, you know, people are like, okay, okay, stop. Yeah, just stop. And that's kind of where it kind
of got to be with Isekai too. It could be because like people have
a different idea of like what the ideal world is to like be reborn into. So it's like, One size doesn't fit all
with Isekai, you kind of have to find like the, like, some people are going
to be really into like sword art, for example, with like epic battles and like
a mission to reach the top of the tower. Gaming. Yeah, and gamers. Gamers love it. But some people, like I said earlier,
just want to like pet fluffy animals or cook a bunch of different foods
and sit by a river, you know. I think you bring up a good point, like,
I always hesitate like we got a question about this earlier in the show of like,
it's there's too much anime coming out. I'm like, there's always going to
be too much of anything, right? I think the idea for me here
is kind of what you were touching on, which is like one. You don't have to watch all of it. No, two period. Don't let the long titles that are
kind of like an in joke sway you from what might be a really great story. Like that time I got
reincarnated as a slime, Yeah. Has one of the strongest narratives. Oh, 100%. Not just isekai anime, but like just
fantasy anime, like fantasy action. Like, you know, you're not going to
get the same emotional feeling and stakes as something like Freiren,
but it really, it's a great show. But it tells a solid story. Yeah, it tells a really solid story. I've had to defend it before. People are like, what is this show? Well, what is this title? I'm like, It's actually very good. It's actually one of the best
things you'll watch in your life. Um, actually, it's very good. Um, so I think like, if you don't
watch Isekai currently or you've only watched some of the bigger shows, like,
like Leah was saying, think about the things that you, if you had all the
time in the world, what would you do? Like, would you open a shop? Would you just get really into cooking? Would you turn into a vending machine? Like, reicarnated as a vending machine. This show is so fun, bro. Let us know in the comments. Let us know in the comments. Yeah, but, but I think like, no,
I don't think there's too much. I, and I do know that like, like,
look, genres can get oversaturated from a business standpoint. Um, in 2017, like, I think it was
Kadokawa who like was basically saying that like other world stories didn't
qualify for their novel contest just because they were getting so many, like
you said, everyone has an example of Who they might want to be in another
world or what they might want to do, and that can make for a compelling story. Right, and I think what's happening
now as the genre is matured kind of like any other genre, right? It's like fine wine. It's yeah, the stories are being told
different right as the genre evolves the stories are evolving and you're starting
to actually you're starting to get out of the I guess the The stereotype of
what isekai is, is, is, I think is what I'm trying to get at because people just
see it as a, Oh, you're reincarnated. You got hit by truckoon
or you like whatever. Right. And it's like, Oh, hey, I'm back. And you're just, you know, this O. P. character. But there are isekai now where it's
like, Yeah, I'm here, but I have to figure out how to live my life or
how to figure out how to get back. Or Yeah. Or I'm trying to figure out
how to actively get back. Right. So it's, it's a, it's a, the genre
has changed and evolved where there's so many good stories. Before we roll into recommendations
for the week, I gotta know, do you guys have like a number one Isekai? You get one, one answer. One? Oh. Number one Isekai. It's slime. 100%. Okay. Yeah. Reincarnated as a slime is just
like, cause it, it kinda gives me everything I'm looking for, man. It's, it's funny. It's got great action. The, like, sense of camaraderie
between, you know, Rimuru and like, his, you know, his court, I guess. Yeah, I guess. It's so great. It is a court now. Um. And then just the, the overall, like
how he looked at his life, like after, like, after he figured out that there
was no coming back from it, he was like, I have to make the best of this. And that also means that I have to, like,
I figure out how to live my life, figure out how my powers work, figure out how I
can do different things within the world that like make it work for me and how do
I better people while I'm going henceforth and making friends with a big evil dragon. But, you know, it's
neither here nor there. Uh what about you guys. I, we already talked about it,
I think, a while back, but I am, like, pro reverse isekai, so
definitely devil is a part timer. Like, that one to me was
laugh out loud funny. That first season, like, when
that first season hit, it was like -
It took over, it was very, very fun. Like, just the concept itself
is just hysterical, but. I know I said I only want to
give, I only can give one answer, but no, I'm going to do one. I'm going to do one. It's probably Konosuba. Yeah. Like my, my easy answer is Digimon
from like a storytelling perspective. I love Digimon. I think it's timeless. Konosuba really leans into the
stereotypical isekai set up and then kind of dismantles it and like a
really funny, well written slapstick. I consider it like it's
always sunny in Philadelphia. It does it on purpose. It does it on purpose. . It's doing it on purpose and the new
seasons honestly, just so good so far. I was just going to ask if you
started watching this season. Yeah cause I guess episode one's out. Um, yeah, I, I was, I laughed out
loud like three times and my wife was like, what are you doing? This show is so funny. What's his name? Kazuma's like trying to become
a monk in the first episode. They come upon the like,
uh, siren plant girl. He's like, uh, don't these
things want to kill us? Right. And they're all like, we gotta help her. And he's like, I don't know. I don't know about all that. I love how he goes back
and he figures out. He's like so confused. Super evil. He's like smoking a cigarette. He's like, he comes back with the
mallet and then it's not explained. I'm laughing. Like I've seen it. You gotta watch it. You gotta watch it. I remember that. It's so good. Well, cool. If you have, uh, your number one
Isekai anime of all time, let us know in the comments, wherever you're
watching or leave a, uh, Exclusively five star review on Apple Podcasts. I think let's uh, let's head into
recommendations for the week y'all. Some good stuff going on. Alright recommendations for this
week guys, um, what have y'all been uh, what have y'all been watching
listening reading exploring playing Outside of my new Helldivers obsession. Nice. Welcome. Welcome to super. For democracy, uh, monkey man, I got a
chance to see monkey man this past week. So good, dev Patel. No spoilers. Directorial debut. Dev Patel, this dude. It's crazy. Outside of it being his debut and like
writing and producing and breaking various bones while, The filming, the show or the
movie, if you want just a pure, just like very much in the same way as like getting
a Keanu Reeves or like, um, God was, was it, I always call him action man because
Jason Bourne, Jason Statham, thank you. But yeah, so like you would get
with like Keanu Reeves and John wick or Jason Statham in any
of his like transport or crank. Yeah, exactly. It's very much beekeeper. Oh, beekeeper was great. It's very much in that same pocket
where you're going specifically to watch a kick ass beat em up revenge story. Like, that's it. That's literally what it is. You're not going into it. That's the sign at the door that's
like, this is what you're here for. This is what you're here for. Expectations set. Right. And I mean, and there is
a story behind it, right? And cool shots. Um, and like, yeah, great shots. Like, all the fight scenes and
fight choreography is done, like, really, really well. They have the John Wick people on that. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So I mean, and that's kind of the people
you get in the industry now, right? Like even Marvel uses them like
pretty frequently to do their fight choreography, but, um, I thought
it was absolutely fantastic. Definitely worth a watch. And it's, it's like a, it's
a little shy of two hours, maybe a little over two hours. Like just perfect movie length. Yeah, yeah. It's, but your classic, like. Hero revenge story. Love it. All you needed to say was Dev Patel. I'd watch anything with Dev Patel. Yeah, he's he's so great He's
he's having quite the run. He's such a good actor
He's like really talented But if we're gonna tie this to anime. If you want something that's in
that same kind of action vein, um, King and Hoshiro, that's a good one. I started watching that. Super brutal. My God. Um, and then Windbreaker, which is
one of my standouts for spring season. So do you want to watch some people
get punched in the face, but you're not going to have a chance to make
it to the movies anytime soon? There's some anime for you. Yeah. Um, we could talk about monkey man
even more off camera because the story of it getting made is insane. Like they started filming right in
the middle of the pandemic, lost their funding, lost their location in India. The whole country was locked down, so
like they couldn't bring in enough actors. So like every camera person is in the
scene, every, like, every producer is on camera, like acting in the scene. Um, like they had, yeah,
they lost their budget. So like, I think Dev told, told a story
about how, like, there's a scene where, like, they're breaking a bunch of
tables, you know what I'm talking about? They had to glue it back together in
between the scenes because they didn't have the budget to get a new table. The producer ran up his
personal credit card to buy the glassware, like insane stuff. Um, like they, they lost their equipment. So he like made a dolly out of a rope. Like so much stuff happened. Anyway, Nick, do you
have any recommendations? Was your recommendation also Monkey Man? It can be, I mean, we spent,
we spent my time talking about it, so I can surrender mine. Well, my recommendation is monkey, man. I haven't seen it yet. I, I, Like I said, I love Dev Patel, but
I have not gotten a chance to see it yet. My recommendation is Wolfman. All right. My recommendation is stars. So Caitlin and I have just been
getting really into Survivor. I yeah, I was a Survivor kid growing up. I was definitely a Survivor kid. Me and my sister, it was like
a like, like Survivor Day. Oh, classic survivor. Yeah, like I forgot how in a lot of ways,
it's like the best of American reality television because so much of reality
tv in America is very like sensational and like anger and frustration focus and
the producers play up a lot of stuff. They do that in survivor, but the
personalities and relationships that develop among the The castaways, it's
just like something that we don't get to see a lot in a lot of reality TV. It's always, they're always pitted against
each other, but getting to see the dynamic of the drama at tribal, we're like,
like one of the most recent episodes. One of the guys, Ben has a panic
attack in the middle of the night, which was the first time I've ever
seen like a legitimate real panic attack on reality television. And one of the other castaways
wakes up and is like comforting him. and they just like hang out
by the fire until like things chill out and they go to sleep. And I was like, that is one of the most
real moments I've ever seen on reality TV. And as someone who's experienced
those things, like it was really cool to see that and for it to
not be played for laughs or like, man, what happened last night? That was crazy. Like, it was just, this is a thing. We acknowledge it. We move on. And of course. The physical challenges
are always fun to watch. Um, they're a lot less crazy than I
feel like they used to be where it was like, you have to eat this tarantula. They have to, well, you know what? You got to think about it. We, it has to be more muted now. Like I think when survivors started, they
were like, let's do the most unhinged, Unholy stuff that we can think of. Yeah, there was that guy who was
like, there was like fear factor. There was that guy who was like,
I'm nude, and I'm nude so that I can make everyone else uncomfortable. I'm like, my dude, that is illegal. You can't do that. And now Deal or No Deal is
trying to take survivors clout. They're doing Deal or No
Deal Island or Paradise. Oh, I thought you were going
to say they're all getting nude on Deal No, no, no. Howie would never. The banker's nude. Like, no, no, but he would not. Oh my gosh. Okay. But how unhinged is this season though? Cause it was incredibly unhinged. There's a guy in the first episode
named Jalinsky and he thinks that several, and seven are the same thing. He thinks that several means seven. And there's a whole
conversation at Tribal. So when I think several,
I think seven or more. Do not do this. I usually think like 10. It's three or more. Really? It's beyond a few is several. I'm about to look it up. But a few for me is
like three to five, bro. Like one to five. Beyond a few is several. Let's have a neutral party. Anyway, I only heard
I'm not gonna do this. I only heard it was unhinged because
I was listening to the besties. Several is seven, eight, or nine. Absolutely not. No. Revisionist history, bro. That's ridiculous. History is written by the victors. Mwah. Pur. You, you are on to something though,
because there are some conflicting sources, but Oh, conflicting sources. But Google, Google is biased because
it's putting seven, eight or nine. It says to many. It means seven, eight or
nine or even 10 or more. Too many, not this is what it means. How do we always get here? Anyway, this season of Survivor is great. Watch it. Um, I don't want to be on it,
but I do like watching it. Um, I would never want to
be on Survivor, like at all. To kick it back to anime, if you like
the kind of survival pieces, these are obviously two more cerebral and serious
takes on a group of castaways, but, uh, Astra lost in space, uh, which is
a, I mean, I can't talk about it much without spoiling the core like piece
of that show, but it's about a group of kids in space and they have to survive. That's all you're getting. You should watch it. It's like 12 episodes. And then Sunny Boy, which kind of
deals with like, uh, kids, students like trapped in a different dimension. And again, can't really talk
about it without spoiling anything, but check it out. Uh, so Astro Lost in Space and Sunny Boy. That's the one that I mixed up
with Oldboy on a previous episode. I was like, you were like talking about
like, like, the fun, easy anime watches. And I was like, wait, isn't
that like super violent? I was like, so confused. Oh, Sunny Boy is not an easy watch either. But Oldboy is super violent
and super traumatic. I'm sure it's an easy watch for someone. I watch it to go to sleep. Um, all right. At the end of every rec segment,
uh, we want to, we want to talk about what the fans at home are watching. Uh, so this week we've got BeefKT10Z
on Crunchyroll, who says, uh, this is going back to the, the CozyAnime
recommendations, has a couple of suggestions regarding CozyAnime that
no one seems to be talking about. I'd put forward The Yuzuki Family's
Four Sons, and Otaku Elf . This one also fits in the reverse Isekai and
Unskipable ending conversations. Oh, hmm. Uh, and then thank you Beef. They said they're really
enjoying the show, guys. So yeah. Thank you. Shout out beef. Thank you. Thank you. Beef. Beef KT 10 Z is my sleepers
cell activation code Oh no. Um, and then of course, uh, we've
got another one this week from Stripe on Crunchyroll who recommends the
angel next door spoils me rotten. And kuma kuma kuma bear. Kuma kuma kuma kuma kuma chameleon. Come and go. That's it, right? You die and you're
transported to another world. It's mailbag time. We got a reply to a question from a fan on
Crunchyroll, so EphemeralDragoon3 What up? Who I think we've heard
from on the show before. Friend of the show. As for my opinion on traumatic,
sad backstory in anime guts from Berserk had an absolutely terrible
life and is the worst backstory. Uh, yeah, he had a pretty
rough, he had a horrible life. Um, for newer anime, probably Denji
from Chainsaw Man, uh, with an honorable mention to spinner from my hero academia. Uh, spinner story is really sad. Like you in. I wonder how they're gonna play it
out in the anime because they don't really talk about spinner too much
until you get further into the manga. So I wonder how they're really gonna
like, cause they kind of allude to it. So I wonder how it's gonna
play out in the anime. Yeah, my hero is one of the
ones where I am anime only. So I have not read it. Denji has both a sad backstory and
just like a sad currently lived life. He is just hit every single
day with something new. Doesn't matter. He's still alive. And he perseveres. He continuously gets Jojo stumped
on and, you know, gets back up. Okay. So first question from this week comes
from @MDreamDesignFan on Twitter. What was the most WTF moment
of any anime you ever saw? You don't want to know. She's going to, what is it? They're going to give an
attack on Titan answer. Oh, is it Attack on Titan? Oh, no. Oh, wow. I'm surprised. It could be. There's a lot of a lot of them. Um, one recently because I, I just
finished it the last, I want to say maybe three to four episodes of metallic
Rouge, like that, that actual, like the reveal you get for one of the characters. Plus like two more characters towards
the end is like, Oh, like it was really like- Maybe I need to finish that. Yeah, bro. You got to finish it. It was very much like oh, I
didn't really see it going there. Okay, that's like if we're gonna
talk like Recent like super recent that's like kind of stuck in my brain. It's definitely that one. How about you Leah? Maybe the one I'll say is probably
like the ending of perfect blue Mm. That one was pretty like what the
frick is going on in the best way. Yeah. That's such a good movie. Um, but yeah, it's a total spoiler. So I'm not going to spoil it. Yeah you don't want to spoil the twist. Yeah. That or like the ending of Oshi no Ko
episode one, which we did spoil earlier. Yeah. Well, I guess we didn't fully spoil it. There's kind of multiple twists
in episode one of Oshi no Ko. The reincarnation is not the
biggest twist in episode one. That yeah, You're just gonna have to
watch the show Yeah, this is a big boring segment where we just tell you a show. Yeah, we're just gonna be show name
super vague So I think I have I have a recent one too and you know
recency bias, whatever But I mean, I guess it's been a few years now,
but decadence I didn't see that one. Decadence kind of sets itself up as just
this Kind of like action drama about this girl who's living on this like
giant moving fortress And that's kind of the setup that you get they fight
giant monsters with this giant fortress. There is a twist I think in episode two
Which is the biggest hard pivot that I have ever seen In a show to explain why
the world is the way that it is You can't predict it if I were to ask you guys to
try and guess what the pivot is is that explains why the world of decadence is
this world where everyone lives on a giant moving robot and they attack monsters. They will, they're all in a dream and the
main character wakes up at the end and it's like, Whoa, I gotta go to school. Wrong. Uh, nuclear war. Also wrong. Okay. You guys should watch it. It's pretty good show. It's also weirdly referenced in
the live action Resident Evil show on Netflix that bombed pretty hard. Yeah, there's like this conversation
where I could tell they just googled like new anime like, I've been watching the
show Deka Dance on, you know, whatever. And I was like, Dek Dek Dance. Anyway, uh, check it out. All right. And this next question, Jbsven, on
Apple Podcasts, uh, asks Nick directly. Directly? To Nick? What? Nick, you were talking about
crossover eps, dot, dot, dot. If you could make any anime crossover
romance happen, what would it be? The crossover I want to
see is Rent A Girlfriend. Okay. Girlfriend, girlfriend. Okay. The quintessential quintuplets. Okay. The cafe terrace and its goddesses. Okay. Tenpudu. Kaguya. And the hunter girlfriends who
really, really, really, really, really, really, really love you. And all the girlfriends. Just all of them in one big show. And it's the same main character from
hunter girlfriends because he's hilarious. Um, that's my fun answer. That's my silly, goofy answer. Gosh, my real one is, I don't
know if I have one because... How have you not thought about this? Well, because Romance anime, specifically
romance anime and the more romantic elements, not the comedy elements, like
they're so unique to their shows because the whole show is about the relationship
they're developing with a specific person. Right. And so when you think about the whole
OTP thing, like, it's hard to separate that and think about that person being,
you know, With another character. That being said, uh, Kazuma from
Konosuba and Chika from Kaguya-Sama. Make it happen. No. That'd be fun. I mean, it would just be fun. Like, and I'm not even thinking
like in a romantic way. It just, I would. Like love to see those two characters
and their chaos interact with each other like seeing Chika in another
world in the kind of Konosuba World or seeing Kazuma try and go and go to
school with they both do the dance. Yeah, and they would both do the dance
Yeah, this is an interesting question. Thanks Jbsven If you guys have romance
crossovers that I'm totally blanking on or you think would be a good
fit Let us know write a exclusively five star review on apple podcasts
Also say your your WTF moment Oh yeah, and share your WTF moments. I want to, I want to see
other massive twists. I think we have some good ones,
but I know we're missing some. So if you guys could fill in that
gap for us, I'd really appreciate it. I think that does us for this week
of, uh, this week on the anime. This was a fun one. I think that's it. That's all folks. All right. As always, Thank you for joining us
for the anime effect brought to you by Crunchyroll and the peeps over at
sony music entertainment Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode Ahem, Crunchyroll presents. The anime effect is hosted by me
Nick Friedman, LeAlec Murray and Leah President We are executive produced
by Jonathan Hirsch, Shara Morris, Alex Lawless, and me, unfortunately. No, fortunately. No, bro. Aw, thanks guys. Our lead producer is Kyla Carneiro and
our associate producer is Zoe Kuhlkin. Patrick Emille edited and
mixed this episode's audio. Tyler Lucas filmed and edited the video. Our head of production is Sammi Allison. Special thanks to
Tameeka Balance Kolasney. We'll be back next week
with more anime, of course. And there's nothing, nothing
that you can do about it. You're playing a zero sum game now. We'll be back. We're in the endgame now. Later, days. Bye, guys!
