The anime is Genshiken (2004), I picked it up on a whim. It's alright so far. Very "by weebs, for weebs". The manga is from 2002.

The 80s and 90s being a pass of the baton from veterans of the early days to more modern staff, which already grew up with anime, and the success of Evangelion and merchandising had some awful long-term consequences even if it was probably unavoidable under capitalism.

I was toying with the idea of visiting the US either next year or 2026, and not only is the northeast the cheapest destination to fly to, but to my limited knowledge offers the most things to see. (unless you can persuade me in favor of, idk, the midwest, the south, whatever)

What I was thinking of visiting:

The Empire's HQ (D.C.) - obvious choice. Imperial architecture, containing probably one of the most famous museum complexes in the world.

Annapolis, Maryland - looks like a quaint seaside town (or maybe Baltimore, MD, with its antique ships in the harbor. Though I hear it's a bit rough)

Harper's Ferry, West Virginia - John Brown! Plus, it's in West Virginia - an excuse to cross one more border.

Philadelphia and Boston have old colonizer architecture and legacy stuff... but to my understanding, basically nothing is left. No idea if there's anything on indigenous culture in that part of the country.

New York City - One of the cities, for good or ill.

I'm definitely also going to New Haven, CT. I have no idea what's there, but I have something to prove to a comrade (or get owned)

Also I'll probably have around a week, and I should have my license by then, so was thinking of renting a car. Seemingly, the car brain is strong enough that rental fees are surprisingly low.

(Season 2, Episode 12)

The last post of this kind was two months ago, so it was time for a refresher of the de-facto recommendation thread of the weeb channel of Hexbear.

Personally, work has greatly diminished my free time and makes me tired all the time, but there's still something to squeeze in.

For me:

Manga:

Oresama Teacher (2007-2020, 176 Chapters) - I have already praised this series last time around and am still reading it. Much like in Nozaki-Kun, where this manga really shines are the characters. Kurosaki Mafuyu might be one of my all-time favorite characters in manga. Someone who is an utter fool, but written in a realistic and endearing way, in spite of the ridiculous plot. A+

Anime:

Dragon Ball (1986-1989, 153 Episodes) - Dragon Ball is a show that rightfully deserves its reputation, as it is extremely solid once it figures itself out. Gone is the horniness of early episodes, the show reached a very high peak in the Piccolo Daimao arc and has kept it up ever since. I am like 10 episodes away from finishing it, but there is one worry. The power scaling, well... it's not exactly balanced. It makes early arcs feel puny in comparison. Also give us Pilaf back smh. A

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei Season 2 (2008, 13 Episodes) - This show continues with its ruthless social criticism (both good and fascinatingly bad) from Season 1, but it goes hard in an abstract direction that is masterfully adapted by Shaft's arthouse-like style. It is also unfortunately pretty horny, like many other Shaft anime... and very entertaining. A+

Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju (2017, 12 Episodes) - This show really is as good as the ratings suggest. It's very un-anime in the sense that it is a serious drama with character-driven storytelling and almost 0 of the usual tropes of the medium. The characters are so good that you WILL get hooked if you watch enough. A+

Fullmetal Alchemist (2003, 51 Episodes) - Now solidly into anime original territory, I have to say this is a really good show, even though the main villains' plans have to fully unravel yet. The atmosphere is on point, and the older early-digital color palette makes it look better than FMAB imo. I will have to check out the manga after finishing the show, since I am curious how the story is there - I dropped FMAB early on, since it didn't hook me at first but '03 did the trick. A

Re:Creators (2017, 22 Episodes) - I started this today thanks to the Mother's Basement video on his favorite Isekai, and I have to say that even if the story ends up really bland, the premise alone is enough to make this show interesting. I think it could have worked better with only one character, but oh well. Too early to tell, but B+

I need to get back to Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction (2024), since I watched a couple of episodes and was intrigued, but then didn't find the time to watch more. ...and get back to reading Capital, of course.

I was boredly looking around YouTube on this Sunday morning and in the mood to watch some bozo talk about anime, maybe get some insights, discover some obscure hidden gem and the like.

However, I found it surprisingly hard to find quality in that scene, beyond niche video-makers like Kenny Lauerdale. Thus I was wondering if you have any recommendations of some people you like making videos about anime.

STOP POSTING ABOUT THE ELECTION! I'M TIRED OF SEEING IT! THE GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION ON TIKTOK SEND ME PROPAGANDA, IN REAL LIFE IT'S FUCKING PROPAGANDA! I was at work, right? and ALL OF THE DISCUSSIONS were just election stuff. I-I showed my champion underwear to my girlfriend and t-the logo I flipped it and I said "hey babe, when this is the most important election of our lifetime HAHA DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DI DI DING" I fucking looked at a trashcan and said "THAT'S A BIT SPD" I looked at my penis I think of a soldier's helmet and I go "PENIS? MORE LIKE DEMOCRACY" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHGESFG

I am unfortunately employed now, so my free time has been devoured by the job, commute and preparation. However, I have still managed to keep up with a few shows and manga - at a slow pace. So how about you?

For me:

Manga:

Oresama Teacher (2007-2020, 176 Chapters) - The only manga I'm reading at the moment is a work by Tsubaki Izumi of Gekkan-Shoujo Nozaki-kun. It is a story of a former delinquent Mafuyu Kurosaki becoming a transfer student and trying to turn her life around. Like a wild mixture of Angel Densetsu and Nozaki-kun, it is indeed a hilarious manga with surprisingly in-depth characters, but instead of the 4-koma format of the latter, it has shoujo manga length chapters. *(so far) A+

Anime:

Dragon Ball (1986-1989, 153 Episodes) - Dragon Ball is a VERY competent Shounen, and one that steadily gets better and drops the immaturity and much of the horniness of the early part of the show. However, around the 100th episode things start changing. The show becomes... interesting. Definitely recommend sticking around to see the show grow. A

Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei, Season 1 (2007, 12 Episodes) - This show apparently was a darling of weebs a decade ago, and it is not hard to see why. Edgyness, egregious fanservice, a cynical attitude towards society so typical of the 90s and apparently the 2000s too. The show provides critique that can sometimes hit at the core of the problem (including anticapitalist critique), and at the same time mock people who seek to do something about it. It's hit and miss, but undeniably interesting. The unique artstyle, the music, the Maeda cameos are bonuses. A

Lupin III: Part II (1977-1981, 155 Episodes) - Hit and miss episode quality, but always entertaining. Sometimes really weird (but apparently 80s Lupin/Part III is most like that), but those tend to be the most fun episodes. Definitely a fantastic show to relax after a stressful day, and there's a lot of episodes. A-

Lost Universe (1998, 26 Episodes) - Fun characters, but the sci-fi spin-off to Slayers is nowhere near as fun as that series. It's decent though. B-

Konosuba Season 3 (Ongoing seasonal, 11 Episodes) - It's more of Konosuba. Juvenile and horny humor, surprisingly decent character writing in spite of the weeb-brained overall writing and a better isekai than the much of the genre it satirises? Yeah, it's all still here. And not much more, but if you like the rest... B

Too early to tell - Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 (Very good so far. I like the atmosphere more than FMAB's and find myself enjoying it more than when I tried to watch that) - Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu (very much anti-weeb brained + unique setting and premise = good, but can't tell more until I've seen the rest)

Tired of libs? Want to debunk common arguments as early as in the first chapter? Read Das Kapital by Karl Marx. Not as hard as its reputation suggests.

Read Oresama-Teacher. It's by the same author and basically a deranged mix between GSNK and... Angel Densetsu? Yup, an actually funny delinquent comedy. Featuring basically a less malicious Seo Yuzuki and evil Umetaro Nozaki expies.

Instead of a 4-Koma, the Manga features Shojo manga standard ~50 page chapters and it's completed too.

Maybe there's a big cringe moment in it, but even though I am far from finishing it, I wanna recommend it.

That's all.

Tfw you get into an anime with only one or maybe two seasons

The story is incomplete.

The last season was a decade ago or more, a new season has become a running joke among people who like it too.

The manga is there, but it's unfinished and progresses at a glacial pace.

I'm talking of course about Kaiji, but the show from the picture is also a victim (Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun). Something like Interviews with Monster Girls at least has the manga be complete, even if you can read the last volume only in Spanish if you don't speak Japanese.

Alas, big booba waifu shows with the level 99 elves, a wish fulfillment loser to gigachad main character will be more profitable, helping self-reinforce the unsavory parts of weeb culture. :)