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For this edition of Saturday Anime Night, first up is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007), a Gainax series about a dystopian future in which evil nobles have forced the masses underground with the help of giant superpowered robots. A couple of underground laborers manage to escape to the surface and quickly begin fighting against the evil machines oppressing humanity. Expect the usual anime antics from there, with characters shooting beams and glowing to solve the plot and such. Episodes 19 through 24 tonight.

After that is The Point (1971), a TV animated film based on, and produced simultaneously with, Harry Nilsson’s 1970 music album of the same name. It tells the story of Oblio, the only round-headed inhabitant in The Land of Point, where everything, including all other living creatures and objects, has a literal point. Branded as a freak, he finds himself banished into the Pointless Forest, where he goes on a journey to find his purpose in life. Director Fred Wolf is best-known as the showrunner for the first six seasons of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987); this is his best-known standalone film. This was the first animated feature ever aired in primetime on Usian television. Great reviews all around, so let’s watch.

We’ll start at 8PM EST on Blorptube, right here:

https://blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine

Be there, comrades!

Letterboxd:

• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: https://myanimelist.net/anime/2001/Tengen_Toppa_Gurren_Lagann
• The Point: https://letterboxd.com/film/the-point/

Doesthedogdie.com links:

• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/9832
• The Point: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/12100

CWs for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann:

• Objectification of female characters.
• Sexualization of minor.
• Child abuse.
• Animal corpses.
• Deaths of animals.
• Cruelty to animals.
• Tooth damage.
• Cutting of flesh.
• Death of child.
• Death of parent.
• Shower scene.
• Hospital scene.
• Claustrophobia.
• Anxiety attacks.
• Flashing lights.
• Sex.
• Blood and gore.
• Gun violence.
• Explosions.
• Stabbing.

CWs for The Point:

• Child abuse.
• Sad animal.
• Flashing lights.
• Bugs.
• Child abandonment.
• Unstable reality.
• Body dysphoria.
• Homelessness.
• Discussion of existentialism.
• Trypophobia.
• Babies.
• Underwater scenes.

Links to movies:

• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann ep. 19: https://tankie.tube/w/oCptLyuba3uXZndyy91wp6
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann ep. 20: https://tankie.tube/w/fa1A9yXpzLGE8Ysq2fbgnj
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann ep. 21: https://tankie.tube/w/k5F7NBiFFwVoavs5d7WkyY
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann ep. 22: https://tankie.tube/w/nKxfJDJKGHJjvmLBp6reVe
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann ep. 23: https://tankie.tube/w/q7dD2uqAup1BDXLDHciuWb
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann ep. 24: https://tankie.tube/w/8eTrVCiW5bBr5bHz4w17Xy
• The Point: https://tankie.tube/w/abpdKNqhGQUBHue2cETX2V

I initially approached Kakegurui with relatively low expectations. I basically just wanted low-brow shock-value comedy. The animated adaptation certainly delivered that in spades, but I was surprised to find that it is also a sophisticated political satire. This (short) video essay offers a synopsis of how I read Kakegurui considered specifically as a political allegory.

The world of Hyakkao Private Academy seems like a grotesque culture of removed gamblers, but it's also a reflection of a modern social economy where elites use the illusion of risk as a mask to disguise the iron fist of power. Yumeko, meanwhile, enters this world as something of a revolutionary figure because of her ability to deconstruct this illusion while at the same time rejecting the values that prop it up.

Video: https://youtu.be/gUU5gJW4uuQ?t=58

You may not like it, but this is the ideal form. Evil anime women will tower over you -- 2/3 of that tower being leg.

Zoro playing 3D othello

What did you think of this week's chapter?

No break next week!