Underrated media

Ayyy, I’ve read John Dies at The End! I have it on my shelf somewhere. I haven’t read it in a while, but I distinctly remember thinking I would have to read it a few times to really Get It. From what I do remember, it’s really good!

As for my own obscure media, please please please listen to Desperate Acts of Capitalism. It’s a podcast available on Spotify, Soundcloud, I believe iTunes? and pretty much anywhere a podcast could be found. As their description says, it’s a “comedy podcast about money, marketing, and how it all goes wrong.” Basically, they just go over rich idiots being idiots, and huge corporate failures/scandals, and economic bubbles like Tulipomania or Beanie Babies. It’s really interesting, really funny, and if you like hearing about companies burn money like a bunch of buffoons like I do, just great to listen to.

Eyyyyy! Have you read any of the other books, either in the John and Dave series or his other series (Futuristic Violence and Facy Suits)? Also I havenn't listened to Desperate Acts of Capitalism, but it pops up on my tumblr dash occasionally because (I'm pretty sure) its hosted by the same person behind Normal-Horoscopes.



Kane is a Whole Gender. The mechanisms are also a gender, mine in particular is the Toy Soldier. Are you on the Stowaway Server mechs fan discord? Because it's great. And I'll double check but if not and you'd like to be, I think I could invite you

The author's website has links to places to buy them. And bookshop.org is great for specifically buying from small/local bookstores. Heck, libraries would probably have them if you want free?

Music-wise, I got a singer
Atari Kousuke 中 孝介
Self-taught pop singer with an almost melancholy voice, as if windchime in the breeze. He sings the island-style of his hometown, and one signature song of his is Sorezoreniそれぞれに. He also singed for the ending song in the anime I'm going to introduce next.

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Natsume Yuujinchou 夏目友人帳, or dub as Natsume's Book of Friends (Genre: Mystery, Supernatural)
A teen that can see, and has been able to see spirits, or youkai 妖怪 since he remembers. A lonely orphan with a childhood filled with scorn and side glances from the human, while the youkai realized that he could see them, harass him daily for whatever reason. The story starts with Natsume, now a young teen, living with a couple that is kind-hearted, while keeping his ability a secret. He has one important possession from his deceased family, his grandma Reiko leaves behind a strange book filled with runes and symbols--these are names of the youkai, and to possess a name, means control.

A story of learning about warmth, of peace. A journey to discover the secrets and stories behind the names, his power. It is heartwarming filled with little moments of whispered thoughts of understanding of people.

Currently on the 6th season, each season ranging from 11-13 episodes

Animes
Houseki no Kuni - protag is from an agender/nonbinary gem humanoid species. The manga is technically a take on religion (primarily buddhism), so there is a lots of buddhist symbolism. One of the characters is actually based off of a buddhist monk. A lot of lotus imagery too. You will find themes about being reborn (spiritually/physically), and change a LOT.

Kaiba 2008 - A VERY underrated anime that came out in 2008, directed by Masaaki Yuasa. The characters look very androgynous and have some implicated gender experiences. Unfortunately there is one character thats based off of cartoonish stereotypes for black people, but thats the only major downside. It is about overcoming past-life (?) trauma, and major identity issues. Each episode has its own little story (usually about moving on/overcoming grief), and the artstyle changes to fit with that episode. It is very artistic and experimental! It also gives me Osamu Tezuka vibes from the artstyle

Sgt. Frog - 2000s vibes, if you're alright with ecchi. Little frog species that functions as a militarianistic species, a small platoon ends up on earth (which they call Pekopon for some reason) and end up housing with a small family (whos father is never mentioned or anything, straight up he doesnt exist), and is built off of comedy more than seriousness.

Mangas
(Copy and pasted from a post I made about manga recs)
Fukakai na boku subete o (Fukaboku) - Fukaboku is a very special manga to me, as it goes in depth on gender identity and sexuality. There are two protagonists, Tetsu who is a cis guy and supposedly straight (we later find out that he is not), and Mogumo, who is AMAB nonbinary.

Tetsu works as a chef at Question Cafe, and everyone employed in fanlations are called girlyboys, however in the official translation they use otokonoko which is anyone crossdressing as a girl regardless of their gender. There are plenty of transwomen, gay people, etc.! Tetsu falls in love with Mogumo, so he isn’t straight, however he isn’t explicitly gay because he recognizes Mogumo as what they identify as, nonbinary. It is safe to say that he could either be pan, bi, omni, etc. however we can’t confirm since it hasn’t been explicitly stated.

We learn how transfeminine people have certain struggles, like shoes that dont fit them, breasts, and voice feminization. We also have a dose of family struggles when it comes to Mogumo in later/current chapters.

Inside Mari - Inside Mari is about a man named Isao who stalks this young girl named Mari. He follows her back outside of a little convenience store, but when she turns back and looks at him he wakes up inside her body and doesn’t know how to cope with it. He tries to find Mari while putting on a facade and living as her. He meets a girl named Yori who instantly recognizes that Isao isn’t actually Mari from his mannerisms. This girl has had a crush on Mari, just like Isao. Isao tries to prove to Yori that he switched bodies, and when he goes to his apartment, he finds someone living as him, but it isn’t Mari.

The more we delve into this manga, the more we figure out exactly what happened to Mari and Isao. As Isao and Yori visit and retrace his steps, Isao gets flashbacks to memories of Mari. Isao soon realizes that he isn’t actually the real Isao, but a introject of Isao, and that Mari actually has DID because of childhood trauma. The ending is bittersweet, as Mari comes back but Isao unfortunately becomes dormant/disappears since I don’t think what happened was them merging.

Bokura no Hentai - The title might seem misleading, however it can be translated as “Our Transformation”! Buckle up buttercup cause this manga will fuck you over emotionally. Three crossdressers meet up after being in a crossdressing group, with different reasons as to why they crossdress. Parou crossdresses to fall in love with a straight guy, Marika is actually a trans woman, and Yui crossdresses as his dead sister to “help” his mother with her grieving. There are some other characters who don’t fit within the gender norms!

Now let me tell you if you are dealing with some trauma and can’t handle very sensitive topics, this manga might not be the one for you. Although it isnt just homophobia and transphobia, it also contains content of sexual harrassment, pedophilia, and suicide. However these topics are not glorified or sexualized. They are trauma of some of the characters and they must learn how to overcome from it individually. However, there is a happy ending for them!! Please let that be known! I enjoyed reading it if sobbing your heart out counts as enjoying it, because it has indeed pulled my heart strings (although I am not a trans woman, I am a trans guy and I can identify with only some of the things Marika goes through, as trans women go through different experiences than trans men and have it harder on them.)

Welcome to Room #305! - Kim Jung Hyun moves into an apartment (room #305) with a friend of a friend, named Kim Homo! Who (you guessed it) is gay! As Jung Hyung begins to live with Kim Homo, he slowly learns to accept him for his sexuality. Once he overcomes his homophobia and completely accepts him for who he is, other lgbt characters pop in too!! They all have their struggles with their identities, and it is very realistic, but the art style helps keep all that angst at bay! It is also pretty funny when it wants to be.

Games
Space Channel 5 - A Simon Says rhythm game. Aesthetic is from the 70s Space Age and the music is pretty poppin. In the first game the antagonist is Captialist Pitbull, and then in the first AND second game Michael Jackson is there (known as Space Michael, voiced by the man himself). In the new VR game theres two new characters who're twins, and theyre both female presenting. One is actually female herself, and the other is an AFAB nondysphoric transman. Their names together literally spells out Rookie ( Roo & Kie). You should listen to the japanese soundtrack album for the second game as it actually has fully fledged songs.

Gitaroo Man - Also a rhythm game, but very unconventional and no other rhythm game has its mechanics. It is actually a game for the PS2 so you might have to emulate this one boys. VERY GOOD guitar solos. Second song is a eurobeat song that is an absolute bopper. The protag is a little kid whos companion is a talking dog. This leads to some very funny scenes (protag doesnt want to save the world/be a hero, he wants to practice his skating).

Um Jammer Lammy (Parappa Series) - A lot of people praise this game, but please be aware that the songs arent there to be GOOD. Guitar is raunchy but good in this one. You want the REAL game? Play the JP version. The NA game is censored, so Lammy doesnt die and go to hell (yes this is real but this scene also breaks the 4th wall), and in the JP version there is still english voice acting. They also had a thing where they compressed and made nightcore-esque voices for some reason. Vital Idol's stage is out of sync (lets lead that up to bad writing/composing) but if you listen hard enough its actually a good song. This game was so good in JP that they released an album for the songs, not as a soundtrack but as an album for the in-game band, Milkcan. The album is called Milkcan! - Make It Sweet!

Yakuza Series - At first glance it is very serious. Once you play the game its the funniest shit ever. The supposed rival is more like that one annoying friend you fucking hate that keeps showing up but they would literally die for you. Also a part-time rhythm game (where the meme Dame Da Yo came from)

Megaman X Series - For some reason even though this is a robot/human futuristic game, there is a lot of robotic anthro furry characters. I dont remember if this was in the OVAs or in the games but theres an iconic scene where Zero (companion who we all see as gay for the protag, X) screams out "What am I fighting FORRRRRRRRRRRRRR" when his love interest (made for the soul purpose of advancing the plot) dies. Even though that scene is supposed to be sad its the funniest shit.

Music
Pretty Hate Machine Album (NIN) - I wont stop mentioning this album because it is my life, but it was created in the 1980s but doesnt sound like it at all. Its a harsh noise/alternative metal genre album. It fucking bops.

Big Brother by Hirasawa Susumu - Based off of the book 1984. Also a harsh noise song. Hirasawa Susumu also did the song Parade! that was used for the movie Paprika. The JP Touhou fandom LOVES this dude, because of the Cookie☆ craze. JP Animated fandom also uses his songs (including this one) and parodies them by using scenes/noises from various sources to replicate his music.

ZAMAGI/Group Inou/POLICEMAN - I group all these house/hiphop Jgroups because they usually have the same band members. Also their music videos are animated by AC-bu. The gif of man kisses girl then plays guitar solo but in the artstyle of a bad 1990s anime? That's ZAMAGI's So Good Now which was animated by Ac-bu. Manages to sound 1990s AND 2000s at the same time. Shoutout to their one song that is literally about how lemon juice makes shrooms effects better.

Utsu-P - An alternative metal P-Producer (producers who use vocaloids to make music), when I say metal I mean metal. He makes the vocaloids scream, and he composes the guitar solos on his own. The umbrella ghost from one of his songs, Ghost Under the Umbrella, is actually a kintype. Primarily uses Miku, GUMI, Rin, and sometimes Vflower.

Kikuohana - A collaborative name that mixes P-Producer Kikuo-P, and touhou-centric Utaite Hanatan. Hanatan does the human vocal vers of some of Kikuo's songs (official ones btw), and she has a wide range which gives Kikuo's music a feel that even him tuning Hatsune Miku would never. This music is mainly of the cartoony/wonky side where it uses orchestras, but also has dubstep.