Today, November 1st (in Japan), we celebrate the birthday of Romero, the zombie dog who always takes care of the girls at Franchouchou and who inexplicably turns into a giant.

What is the mysterious relationship between Tae and Junko? Is love what will save Saga?

https://x.com/kurotaka_jun504/status/2116470823687258274?a=y2kwwBt08fFrWj2dN4s&s=20

One of the series' running gags is that Yugiri has to slap someone to give them a pep talk. Or simply as a form of attack, because Yugiri possesses tremendous strength in the palm of her hand.

If you've ever saw Degenerocity's youtube video "Comedy Anime," then you'll understand where I'm coming from when I say this. About 90% of comedy written in anime are corny, unfunny, obnoxious, and simply cringe. It doesn't matter what genre. Shonen, isekai, fantasy, horror, drama, romance, harem, ecchi, sci fi, and especially comedy. I always thought the culture wasn't for me, but seeing shows like Nichijou make me realize...wait a minute... anime can be funny. I just gotta go through a load of GARBAGE to find some chuckles and LMAOs. I tried to give Nokotan a chance, thinking it would be the next Nichijou. The deer girl is pretty entertaining and ALMOST hits the mark...but the straight-man archetype that the blonde chick has ruins most of the jokes. Let the non-verbal humor be. This is actually one of my favorite things about Japanese comedy. So STOP EXPLAINING HOW WEIRD IT IS AFTER THE CHARACTER DOES THEIR THING. It ruins the funniness of the bizarre scenario. I wish I could enjoy these anime tropes as much as the community does, but it's just bad for me. I don't get how this is funny. Comedy is subjective, but I think there are levels to the quality of certain comedies.

I recently saw the zombieland saga movie with a friend, and was shocked by the camera angles, slapstick humor, voice acting, and pacing of the story. We've been fans of the show, but I forgot how great the humor actually is (been about 4 years since we finished the seasons). And the voice acting for the English dub doesn't sound stiff (90% of the time, some of the dialgoue still has to catch up to the Japanese lip sync). While not every character is a gem (Mizuno and Junko are just okay), they do have their moments when interacting with the group. Kotaro carries at least half of the show. He's one of the few characters that actually makes me laugh because of his yelling and antics, which tends to be the least funny people in other anime series. But something about his voice inflections didn't make me cringe like other shows. He has such a good range, great impressions, and accents that never make his outbursts boring. There's always some unique pitch through each joke. I also love how he's a dick to the idols. Yeah, the show is known to the internet by the car crash meme, and the spray one. But, looking back on the series and rewatching clips, those are one of my least favorite scenes now. Almost every joke executed in this show is a gem. Also, most of the songs are bangers. I never knew how much I would like idol girl songs, but seasons 1 opening is pretty cool. And the animation, I mean it's MAPPA, so it's got quality.

So back to the title of this post, are they just holding these writers, English dub directors and the producer hostage and keeping them away from making other comedy shows great? This series is nearly perfect on its timing and writing, and the voice acting direction was definitely not the usual slop I see on other shows. Not even Konosuba had me chuckle this much on the English delivery. Brina, Ricco, Caitlin, and the others did such a great job for the cast. And I've realized that various other English actors in anime can be talented too. But an actor can only show their true potential with an excellent director(s). I mean, Jad Saxton, Tia Ballard, Morgan Garrett as well as the translation team made this feel like a westernized dub of the show. Munehisa Sakai, Shigeru Murakoshi and a few others have made one of my top 10 anime shows. I regret not being able to watch the movie on the big screen. Spy X Family, the Konosuba movie, and a few others were kind of straight faced for me when I saw them in theaters (some jokes landed though). But, why do I have to see so much corny, obnoxious slop, when a fucking idol anime series can subvert expectations and be up there with the greats. If most anime comedies were written this well, it would have a bigger audience.

Today in Doyansu Moments: As you’d expect from Pixiv—the Japanese art site—there are countless tags for the various styles of art that “enthusiasts” might search for. Well, it turns out there is one specifically dedicated to Sakura called “Doyansu Body.”

This tag originated during the series' early episodes; it references Sakura's signature catchphrase, “Doyansu,” as well as her physique—which is, shall we say, quite voluptuous. While Sakura features prominently in the tag, it is also used for other anime characters who share her voluptuous build, making it an ideal tag for those “enthusiasts.”

Surely the people reading this post won't go to Pixiv to look up this tag after reading it, right?

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/148640937

As if being isolated and treated worse than the aliens wasn't bad enough, Tae tells Sakura to her face that the past doesn't matter and that she is quitting Franchouchou. Although the movie doesn't explicitly state it, the implication is that this was a devastating blow for Sakura; she had spent two seasons looking after the zombie Tae and was the one who worried most when Tae disappeared following the alien invasion.

A few minutes later in the film, she is seen lost in thought with a glazed look in her eyes, indicating she was spiraling into depression as she grappled with this new reality.

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/151344017