Otaku Ryōhō – Details, episodes & analysis

**THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR THE FINAL SEASON OF MHA!**

S3E2: It's post-TAGGS week and Josué & Rae are TIRED. This episode, Josué & Rae say goodbye to My Hero Academia and reflect on the journey of the characters and story- as well as events and growth in their own lives- during the manga's 10 year and the anime's 9 year respective runs. Josué talks about how he's rarely experienced the end of a massive mainstream hit show in real time and how different this ending feels- particularly because this ending was happy. Rae reflects on her experiences in online fandom spaces during new episode and chapter drops. Josué reflects on how frequent moving has affected his attachments and how a long-running show can provide consistency and stability in a very inconsistent and unstable world. Rae recounts how hearing about the MHA manga ending felt at the time, the additional factors that intensified her feelings, and contrasts that with how the anime's ending hits more positively now that she's in a better place. They both agree that their goodbye to My Hero Academia feels less sad and more appreciative and full of gratitude. 

Themes/Topics Discussed:

• Real, tangible, and valid grief experienced by a beloved, long-running show ending
• Grief and loss in its many forms
• Stories with happy endings vs stories with tragic endings
• Attachment 
• Acceptance, gratitude, meaning-making, and closure
• Recognizing and building resilience and capacity
• Accepting what you do and do not have control over
• Common therapist experiences of burnout, termination, and licensure grind

Relatable Experiences:

• Frequent moves and necessary detachment- or, difficulty forming deep attachment
• Having something to look forward to when you're feeling hopeless; The grief when that thing you look forward to ends
• Collective, global fandom experiences
• Media reaching kids-playing-the-show-on-the-playground-and-having-themed-birthday-parties levels of mainstream popularity 
• Fandom twitter experiences (MHAtwt, CRtwt, OPtwt, etc.)
• Stories with rich, expansive worlds and how "playing in the sandbox" affects grief, loss, and acceptance of a story's end
• Life events coinciding with a show's duration
• When life is inconsistent, long-running media provides consistency
• Living in the present moment because the future is not guaranteed

Anime/Characters Mentioned: 

• My Hero Academia
• One Piece
• Attack on Titan
• Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super
• My Hero Academia: Vigilantes
• Sailor Moon 
• Hamtaro
• Deku (Izuku Midorya) (MHA)
• Katsuki Bakugo (MHA)
• Todoroki family (MHA)
• Bulma (DBZ)
• Dragonball Xenoverse III (video game)
• Wano arc (One Piece)
• Midnight (MHA)
• Best Jeanist (MHA)
• Hawks (MHA)
• Toonami (Cartoon Network anime programming block)

Non-Anime Media/Characters Mentioned: 

• Game of Thrones
• Star Trek
• Skywalker saga (Star Wars movies)
• Critical Role (Campaigns 1, 2, and 3)
• Arya Stark (GoT)
• Doctor Who
• The Kardashians (joke/reference)
• Spider-Man (Miles Morales, Spiderverse films)
• Magic: The Gathering (TCG)

Contact Us:

• Join the discussion on the GT Forum at https://forum.geektherapy.org/ and connect with the Geek Therapy Network through the links at https://geektherapy.org/.
• Check out our other shows on the GT Network: https://network.geektherapy.org/  
• Join us in the Geek Therapy Discord
• Follow Geek Therapy on Bluesky: @GeekTherapy.bsky.social 

Conversation Starters: 

What shows have you had to say goodbye to? Was it easy or hard? What tips can you offer someone going through this experience?

S3E1: SURPRISE! Otaku Ryoho is BACK! After a 5 year hiatus, Geek Therapy's anime podcast is back and rebooted with a shiny new coat of paint, a new (cuter and very funny) co-host, and 5 years of fresh wisdom (and existential dread). Josué introduces Rae to the audience and interviews her about her favorite anime (which she mostly answers). They discuss favorite anime, what they're currently watching (Josué is DEEP in the Gundam mines), and how ADHD impacts favorites, watchability, enjoyment, and expectations. Rae discusses her origins with anime and the experience of first discovering anime in the early 2000's on Toonami. She talks about the negative social perception of liking anime at the time, how that shame affected her, and how finally openly embracing her love of anime has led to personal growth and a heaping scoop of healthy self-awareness. They then pivot to their plan for this new era's episodes- revisiting the classics, touching on what's popular right now, and more.

Themes/Topics Discussed:

• Anime as a therapy tool 
• Hyper-fixations and ADHD in fandom
• The vulnerability of liking things openly 
• Generational/perceived shame around anime (Toonami-era millennials)
• Identity development and alignment 
• Eating disorders/disordered eating
• Positive depictions of food and eating in anime (eating as self-care)
• Capable, well-written female characters, especially in Shonen
• Disability and accurate representation in anime 
• Cultural representation 
• Processing depression through art (Hideaki Anno and depression)
• Effort vs. faith models of wish fulfillment 
• Differences between media written for the male gaze vs the female gaze 
• Grief
• Nostalgia
• Female perspectives of anime, especially Shonen

Relatable Experiences:

• Blanking on your favorite thing when asked
• Hyper-fixation cycling
• Watching anime in secret because family didn’t get it
• Being a “hater” in order to avoid vulnerability 
• Starting an episode and losing focus or wandering off before it ends
• Coping skills for ADHD to maintain interest and engagement 
• Feeling ashamed of a hobby you actually love

Anime/Characters Mentioned: 

• One Piece 
• Dragon Ball Z/Dragon Ball Super
• Naruto
• Food Wars
• Dungeon Meshi (Delicious in Dungeon)
• My Hero Academia
• Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
• Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
• Jujitsu Kaizen 
• Demon Slayer
• Neon Genesis Evangelion
• Gundam (franchise; specifically After War Gundam X, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Gundam SEED, Gundam SEED Destiny, Gundam Freedom)
• Sailor Moon (classic)/Sailor Moon Crystal
• Cowboy Bebop
• Pokémon
• My Hero Academia: Vigilantes
• A Silent Voice
• One Punch Man
• Mob Psycho 100
• Solo Leveling
• One Piece: Fan Letter (OVA)
• Rebuild of Evangelion (film tetraology)
• Spirited Away
• Studio Ghibli 
• Portgas D. Ace (One Piece character)
• Senshi (Dungeon Meshi character)
• Winry Rockbell (FMA:B character)
• Todoroki family (My Hero Academia)
• Sungwon Cho (voice actor)
• Kohei Horikoshi (MHA mangaka)
• Hideaki Anno (director)

Non-Anime Media Mentioned: 

• One Piece Live Action (Netflix) 
• Star Wars
• Western superheroes 
• Marvel
• Batman 
• Bridgerton
• Pacific Rim
• Firefly
• Magic: The Gathering 
• Gundam TCG

Contact Us:

• Join the discussion on the GT Forum at https://forum.geektherapy.org/ and connect with the Geek Therapy Network through the links at https://geektherapy.org/.
• Check out our other shows on the GT Network: https://network.geektherapy.org/  
• Join us in the Geek Therapy Discord
• Follow Geek Therapy on Bluesky: @GeekTherapy.bsky.social 

Conversation Starters: 
Is there a show or fandom you’ve felt embarrassed to admit you love? What happened when you finally let yourself enjoy it openly?

What stories (anime or otherwise) have you found yourself going back to lately? What have you gotten out of this revisit? 

Gian chooses to talk about a difficult topic near and dear to his heart, the timeless conflict between biology and behavior. Josue and Gian both dissect Beastars in an attempt to see how the series could be used to talk about race, gender and drug addiction. Gian talks about naturalistic bias when talking about male behavior in the context of the gender binary and dissects the idea that what is natural is not always ethical. Josue talks about the hopeless state of feeling out of control drawing parallels between Legoshi and drug addiction. Gian and Josue debate on their conflicting views on the amount of volition or choices available to people enduring drug addiction, spurring a long exploration on what it means to “have a choice” and the environmental and societal factors that influence said choice.

Talking Points: Sexual urges, Hunger, Carnivore vs Herbivore, Binary Gender norms, Naturalistic bias, Biological Determinism, Drug addiction, Volition, Environmental factors, Societal factors, Opioid addiction, Alcohol addiction, Control, Interventions, Depression, Suicide

Anime Mentioned: Beastars, Demon Slayer, Dragon Ball

Contact Us:

Contact us in the Geek Therapy Forums: https://forum.geektherapy.com/

Join us in the Geek Therapy Discord

Follow Gian Ramos on twitter @Psychogonically

Follow Josue Cardona on twitter @JosueACardona

Follow the Geek Therapy Network on twitter @Geektherapy

The post Biological Urges: Conflicts with Biology appeared first on Otaku Ryōhō - Geek Therapy.

Josue starts a conversation about Fan Service. We give our personal definitions of what the term “fan service” entails and give examples of our favorite types of fan service. We also talk about the specific form of fanservice that involves sexual gratification and our discomfort and experience with this ever-present concept in the overall world of anime. Gian talks about formative anime that on reinspection as an adult had problematic representations of women and forms of fan service. They then talk about Motivation and anime’s skillful manipulation of our emotional states to keep us invested in a series.

Talking Points: Fan service, Sexual gratification, fans, Cameos, Character arch, Strength narratives, Violence and gore,

Anime Mentioned: Dragon Ball, Food Wars, Love Hina, Chobits, Fruits Basket, Beastars, Cells at Work, Weathering with You, Your Name

Non-Anime Mentions: Avenger’s Endgame

“Get in the Robot” Youtube page

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcU3qwLQ4E4t1AeCCkZg5dw

Contact Us:

Contact us in the Geek Therapy Forums: https://forum.geektherapy.com/

Join us in the Geek Therapy Discord

Follow Gian Ramos on twitter @Psychogonically

Follow Josue Cardona on twitter @JosueACardona

Follow the Geek Therapy Network on twitter @Geektherapy

The post Fan Service and it’s many faces appeared first on Otaku Ryōhō - Geek Therapy.

Gian starts the conversation talking about his academic development from childhood and how media nurtured his love for academia growing up. They begin by raving about Cells at Work and the effective ways it mixes Medical Theory with the energy and explosiveness of a shonen anime. Then we talk about how Anime contributed to our religious education as children raised in Catholic households. Josue then talks about Food Wars and how it blends culinary art and science in a way that is fun and engaging. We then talk about other anime that spark our love for specific academic fields. Josue ends with a mention of Hentai and informal sexual education.

Talking Points: Medicine, Education, Religious Education

Anime Mentioned: Cells At Work, Comical Psychosomatic Medicine, Superbook, The Flying House, Food Wars, Dr. Stone, Aggretsuko

Non-Anime Mentions: The Magic School Bus, The Cluefinders game series, Carmen Sandiego, Rami, Blackish, Fresh off the Boat.

Contact Us:

Contact us in the Geek Therapy Forums: https://forum.geektherapy.com/

Join us in the Geek Therapy Discord

Follow Gian Ramos on twitter @Psychogonically

Follow Josue Cardona on twitter @JosueACardona

Follow the Geek Therapy Network on twitter @Geektherapy

The post Education Anime: Knowledge is Power appeared first on Otaku Ryōhō - Geek Therapy.

Talking Points: History, Who writes history?, Speculative Historical fiction, Historians and historical accounts, The inherent fiction of history, bias.

Anime Mentioned: Rurouni Kenshin, Grave of the Fireflies, The Wind Rises, Hyoge Mono, Vinland Saga, Rose of Versailles, Samurai Champloo.

Non-Anime Mentions: Bill Wurtz’s “history of japan” youtube video, “5 Most Historically Accurate Anime Of All Time (& The 5 Most Inaccurate)” – Cody McIntosh, Shakespeare, The Canterbury Tales.

Reference Links:
history of japan – Bill Wurtz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh5LY4Mz15o

5 Most Historically Accurate Anime Of All Time (& The 5 Most Inaccurate) – Cody McIntosh

https://www.cbr.com/most-leas-historically-accurate-anime-of-all-time/

Contact Us:

Contact us in the Geek Therapy Forums: https://forum.geektherapy.com/

Join us in the Geek Therapy Discord

Follow Gian Ramos on twitter @Psychogonically

Follow Josue Cardona on twitter @JosueACardona

Follow the Geek Therapy Network on twitter @Geektherapy

The post “Historical” Anime or “Historical” Fan Fiction? appeared first on Otaku Ryōhō - Geek Therapy.

Gian starts this round wanting to talk about how pain is represented conceptually in anime. He draws inspiration from Kiznaiver, an anime in which kids are forcibly connected by physical and emotional pain. Josue presents Bofuri an anime about a girl who makes herself impervious to pain in a virtual reality massively multiplayer online game. They talk about how Bofuri serves as a good reference point for conversations about tolerance and growth. Gian brings the topic of how shared pain or shared trauma can both bring us together an bring us apart. Then they talk about the representation of pain and illness in anime and the subjectivity of pain.

Talking Points: Pain, Tolerance, Resilience, Growth, Sickness, Pain scales, Subjective Pain experiences, medical treatment of pain, pain neuroscience, nearsightedness, illness.

Anime Mentioned: My Hero Academia, Kiznaiver, Bofuri, Dr. Stone, Samurai Champloo, Cells at Work.

Non-anime Mentions: Trauma Center: Under the Knife, Lifesigns: Surgical Unit (The more accurate Surgery DS game)

Contact Us:

Contact us in the Geek Therapy Forums: https://forum.geektherapy.com/

Join us in the Geek Therapy Discord

Follow Gian Ramos on twitter @Psychogonically

Follow Josue Cardona on twitter @JosueACardona

Follow the Geek Therapy Network on twitter @Geektherapy

The post The Concept of Pain appeared first on Otaku Ryōhō - Geek Therapy.

Josué brings up the topic of Science Fiction and Gian discovers how much he loves science fiction. Each of them takes turns talking about their favorite science fiction animes and why they love the concepts that they present. Gian begins with a mention of his favorite Slice-of-Life Sci-Fi anime and Josue talks about his love for anime that deals in the interface between humans and technology and the degree to which we see that blending process. They continue talking about Science fiction that both build worlds out of simple rules and science fiction that performs a single fascinating thought experiment.

Talking Points: Science Fiction, Technology, Time Travel, Empathy, Pain, AI, Digital Consciousness, Transhumanism, Connection with Technology, Political Fiction, Slice-Of-Life, Mecha, Psychology, MMOs, Schools, Genetics, Science

Anime Mentioned: Orange, Kiznaiver, Ghost In The Shell, Psycho-Pass, Space Brothers, Neon Genesis Evangelion, .Hack//, Assassination Classroom, Planets, Gundam, Bofuri, Dr. Stone, Naausica, Blue Gender

Non-Anime Mentions: Avengers: Endgame, .Hack// Video game trilogies, Kaijuu

Contact Us:

Contact us in the Geek Therapy Forums: https://forum.geektherapy.com/

Join us in the Geek Therapy Discord

Follow Gian Ramos on twitter @Psychogonically

Follow Josué Cardona on twitter @JosueACardona

Follow the Geek Therapy Network on twitter @Geektherapy

The post Science Fiction: The Future Is Anime appeared first on Otaku Ryōhō - Geek Therapy.

Gian brought the topic of Judgment using the anime “Death Parade” to illustrate how difficult it is to impose judgments on others. The conversation moves across various anime in which the concept of judgment as punishment is applied as well as anime in which the concept of judgment as an assessment is applied. Josué and Gian disagree on the definitions of Judgement that they employed throughout the conversation highlighting the complexity of the philosophical discussion. They talk about curses as forms of judgments in Dororo and Ranma as well as the judgment component of breaking natural laws in full metal alchemist. The discussion then pivots in on about ethical decision making and codes of ethics.

Talking Points: Religious Judgement, Murder, Ethical Dilemmas, Morality, Principles, Virtues, Code of Ethics, The Trolley Problem, Legal issues, Institutional codes of ethics.

Anime Mentioned: Death Parade, Death Note, Ranma 1/2, Psycho-Pass, Dororo, Dragon Ball Z/Super, Princess Mononoke, Full metal alchemist.

Contact Us:

Contact us in the Geek Therapy Forums: https://forum.geektherapy.com/

Join us in the Geek Therapy Discord

Follow Gian Ramos on twitter @Psychogonically

Follow Josue Cardona on twitter @JosueACardona

Follow the Geek Therapy Network on twitter @Geektherapy

The post Judgment: Ethical and otherwise appeared first on Otaku Ryōhō - Geek Therapy.

Gian and Josué talk about death & the afterlives using Dragon Ball Z as illustration. What happens after we die? The question yields more questions than answers. The hosts talk about their personal beliefs and how those beliefs influence how they go about their lives. As the conversations develop, they explore religious diversity and how it affects our collective view of death. They end up playing a game where they rewrite Dragon Ball replacing its “death & afterlives lore” with our own to find out how that would change the story.

Talking Points: Religion, Spirituality, Jung, Death, Afterlives, Philosophical Materialism, Reincarnation, Christianity, Shinto, Buddhism,

Anime Mentioned: Dragon Ball Z/ Dragon Ball GT/ Dragon Ball Super

Contact Us:

Contact us in the Geek Therapy Forums: https://forum.geektherapy.com/

Join us in the Geek Therapy Discord

Follow Gian Ramos on twitter @Psychogonically

Follow Josue Cardona on twitter @JosueACardona

Follow the Geek Therapy Network on twitter @Geektherapy

The post Death & The Afterlives appeared first on Otaku Ryōhō - Geek Therapy.