Fandom: Do Our Opinions Matter?


Episode 50

Fandom: Do Our Opinions Matter?

Everyone is a fan of something. But can a fanbase actually influence the thing they love? We explore what it means to be an anime fan and the fascinating nature of fandom. Brett rejoins us to discuss his first impressions of the anime community while Charlie and Sam talk about how anime fandom has changed over the years. 

FEATURING

Sam

Charlie

Brett

ANIME REFERENCES

Perfect Blue

Mima Kirigoe, a member of a pop-idol group called "CHAM!", decides to quit singing to pursue a career as an actress. Some of her fans are displeased with this decision though, particularly a stalker named Me-Mania. As Mima progresses into her new career, those close to her are violently murdered one by one, and Mima begins to lose the ability to distinguish reality from fantasy.

Blue Lock

Through an arbitrary and biased decision-making process, Isagi is one of three hundred U-18 strikers selected for a controversial project named Blue Lock.

One Outs

The story begins when Hiromichi Kojima, the star batter of the fictional Lycaons in Japan's Pacific League, heads to the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to train and bring himself out of a slump. There, he meets Toua Tokuchi, a 134-kmph (83 miles per hour) pitcher and the undisputed king of a gambling form of baseball called "One Out." At Kojima's urging, Tokuchi signs up with the Lycaons under an unusual contract: he gets 5,000,000 yen (about US$46,000) for every out he pitches, but loses 50,000,000 yen (US$460,000) for every point he gives up. (Source: Anime News Network)

Pokemon

A young boy named Ash embarks on a journey to become a "Pokémon Master" with his first Pokémon, Pikachu. Joining him on his travels are Brock, a girl-obsessed Rock Pokemon Trainer, and Misty, a tomboyish Water Pokémon Trainer who may have a crush on him. They end up traveling through various regions, including Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto, and then enter the Pokémon League competitions there. Along the way, they run into many confrontations with Pokémon thieves who are apart of an evil organization called "Team Rocket". But every time Team Rocket try to do their evil deeds, they fail thanks to Ash and his Pokémon.

EPISODE NOTES

We don't discuss a great deal of anime in this episode as the focus was more around the community and the nature of fandom. We do reference an amazing anime film called Perfect Blue that explores an obsessive fan stalking a pop star. This film is a more mature anime that we highly recommend, notably inspiring Black Swan among other Hollywood films.

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