
A Single Thing In Nature: Mushishi and The Futility Of It All
In this episode, Atomic and Tavarita discuss the sleeper hit manga and anime series Mushishi and its mastery of the art of short storytelling. They dive into Mushishi's haunting naturalism, the possibility of a shadow biosphere, and the entropy of our universe. This one is a thinker! **Content Warnings: Existentialism, Talk of Animal Death** [0:00] Episode Introduction [0:29] Episode Title, John Muir [1:40] Housekeeping! [6:15] The Career of Yuki Urushibara [13:39] The Mushishi Manga [19:47] Manga Publishing Issues & FOMO [23:56] World of Mushishi [1:03:33] The Shadow Biosphere [1:14:04] The Mushi & Entropy [1:39:54] Why Fish Don't Exist [1:45:40] Outro - Alexa Guesses That Anime [Show Notes] Conover, E. (2015). “Shadow biosphere” might be hiding strange life right under our noses. Science. Published. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa7865 Davies, P. C., Benner, S. A., Cleland, C. E., Lineweaver, C. H., McKay, C. P., & Wolfe-Simon, F. (2009). Signatures of a Shadow Biosphere. Astrobiology, 9(2), 241–249. https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2008.0251 Miller, L. (2021). Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life (First Printing ed.). Simon & Schuster. Ohara, T. (2007, February 3). Mushishi Live-Action Movie Interview. ComiPress. https://www.comipress.com/article/2007/02/03/1449.html Oxford Essential Quotations, & Ratcliffe, S. (2020). John Muir. Oxford Reference. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191843730.001.0001/q-oro-ed5-00012574 Universe Today [Fraser Cain]. (2020, January 28). Is There A Shadow Biosphere? Searching For Life On Earth That Isn’t Related To Us [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2brd-3OVgn8 Wikipedia contributors. (2021a, August 7). Yuki Urushibara. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuki_Urushibara Wikipedia contributors. (2021b, August 31). Mushishi. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushishi [Art Credit]"Shounen Protagonist" Logo & Design by Jules Riselinghttps://www.julesriseling.com (thank you Jules!)https://www.twitter.com/julesriseling [Music Credit]Intro & Outro Music: "Next" by Gio NavasIntermission Music: "Brave" by Gio Navashttps://www.gionavas.com/ (thank you Gio!)https://www.twitter.com/giomaria
1hr 50mins
22 Sep 2021
Rank #1

Not With A Bang, But A Whimper: Hunter X Hunter & Hustle Culture
It's already getting deep fam! In this episode, Atomic and Tavarita discuss the origins of the classic shounen series "Hunter X Hunter" and the controversial career of its creator, Yoshihiro Togashi. Furthermore, they talk of the deadly work culture that has developed in the manga industry, how consumers can help, what we can learn from Togashi's career - and by extension, what we can learn from the decline of his protagonist Gon. Find your favorite artists on Fanbox: https://www.fanbox.cc/ **Trigger Warning: Premature Death Mentions** [0:00] Episode Introduction [1:32] Anime Houston! [9:26] Episode Title, "The Hollow Men" [11:14] The Career of Yoshihiro Togashi [40:10] "Hiatus X Hiatus" & Burnout [1:25:00] What We Owe Creators [1:38:00] Outro - Alexa Guesses That Anime [Show Notes] Eliot, T. S. (1925). The Hollow Men by T S Eliot. All Poetry. https://allpoetry.com/the-hollow-men Rudlin, P. (2021, July 2). So, What is Karoshi Actually? Japan Intercultural Consulting. https://japanintercultural.com/free-resources/articles/japanese-business-keywords/so-what-is-karoshi-actually/ Sridhar, P. (2020, January 24). What We Owe to Creators: Burnout in manga artists and how to prevent it. Anime Feminist. https://www.animefeminist.com/what-we-owe-to-creators/ Wikipedia contributors. (2021, August 16). Yoshihiro Togashi. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihiro_Togashi [Art Credit]"Shounen Protagonist" Logo & Design by Jules Riselinghttps://www.julesriseling.com (thank you Jules!)https://www.twitter.com/julesriseling [Music Credit]Opening Music: "Next" by Gio NavasIntermission Music: "Brave" by Gio Navashttps://www.gionavas.com/ (thank you Gio!)https://www.twitter.com/giomaria
1hr 40mins
18 Aug 2021
Rank #2

Keep On Living On: The Pokémon Franchise
In their first episode, Atomic and Tavarita discuss the origins of their podcast concept, the humble beginnings of video game designer Satoshi Tajiri, and the cultural impact of his Pokémon franchise, and what we can learn from the never-ending journey of Ash Ketchum. [0:00] Episode Introduction [0:52] Why did we start this podcast? [7:54] Host Introductions [12:20] Logo Discussion & "Ganbaru" Etymology [16:19] History of the Pokémon Franchise [31:36] Pokémon in Science & Sociology [49:17] Pokémon: I Choose You Movie [53:00] Pokémon Edgelord Theories [1:04:00] What We Can Learn From Ash Ketchum [1:25:00] Outro - Alexa Guesses That Anime [Show Notes] Suzuki, M. (2018, September 19). Ganbaru (頑張る) –– What it Really Means and How to Use it. Tofugu. https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/ganbaru/ Wikipedia contributors. (2021, August 4). Satoshi Tajiri. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Tajiri Joseph Tobin. (2004). Joseph Tobin. http://joetobin.net/ Tobin, J. (2004). Pikachu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokemon. Duke University Press Books. Isaak, M. (2020). Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature: Etymology: Fiction. Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature: Etymology: Fiction. https://www.curioustaxonomy.net/etym/fiction.html Gomez, J., Barnett, M., & Grill-Spector, K. (2019). Extensive childhood experience with Pokémon suggests eccentricity drives organization of visual cortex. Nature Human Behaviour, 3(6), 611–624. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0592-8 Yuyama, K. (Director). (2017). Pokémon the movie: i choose you! [Film]. OLM, Inc. Brackett, C. (2021). 10 Fan Theories That Explain Why Ash Ketchum Never Ages. Ranker. https://www.ranker.com/list/ash-ketchum-age-theories/crystal-brackett Impidimp. (2021). [Illustration]. https://cdn2.bulbagarden.net/upload/f/fb/859Impidimp.png [Art Credit]"Shounen Protagonist" Logo & Design by Jules Riselinghttps://www.julesriseling.com (thank you Jules!)https://www.twitter.com/julesriseling [Music Credit]Opening Music: "Next" by Gio NavasIntermission Music: "Brave" by Gio Navashttps://www.gionavas.com/ (thank you Gio!)https://www.twitter.com/giomaria
1hr 30mins
8 Aug 2021
Rank #3