Anime Outsiders

On Alex Barry’s last episode, the boys dissect the nature and origins of the negative reactions they’ve received.Butthurt. A word bandied about in such a casual manner, one tends to overlook its actual meaning. Its true nature. As Alex Barry says farewell to The Other Side, he and Cody can think of no more fitting a subject for his final podcast than an examination into the childish reactions their views, and the manner in which they’ve expressed them, have garnered from some people. From accusations of trolling, to outright temper tantrums, Cody and Alex (though mostly Cody) have evoked a sizable amount of ire from a substantial amount of people within the anime fandom. While Cody couldn’t be happier, he and Alex take it upon themselves to ask the burning question; why? Where does this unhealthy, childish rage come from?

The Other Side finally reaches the age of Toonami in its look at anime on television… Too bad everyone and their mother has looked back on Toonami, so forget that! Instead, Alex and Cody (mostly Cody) take a look at an anime block that was an unsung hero of the day. A block close to Cody’s heart–possibly a little more than even Toonami–that few anime podcasts even acknowledge. Which programming block could that be? Well, you’ll just have to listen and find out! And have another taste of “happy manic” Cody as the boys discuss the revival of Toonami!

The story of how out Japanese cartoons have been brought to us has been a long and semi-boring one. Oh, sure, most podcasts would discuss anime’s growing acceptance into mainstream culture, and how this was both caused by, and led to, anime’s increased presence on television. But The Other Side is not most podcasts. So, instead, join Cody Baier and Alex Barry as they make fun of Speed Racer’s theme song, discuss what it’s like to have a good day, and Cody Baier shows us that there is an inverse side to his usual angry rants; much more positive, but just as manic.Runtime: 00:57:04

Sometimes, your favorite anime show decides it wants to be deep, meaningful, or just look smart, so it’ll throw in some philosophical ramblings in there. Or it’ll just quote people who actually knew how to do this whole philosophy thing. Or it’ll throw random-ass visuals in your face and pretend it means anything. So, who better to tear this pretentious gobbledygook apart than the good folks at The Other Side? For this episode, Cody is joined by special guest co-host Max Vader, a student in philosophy himself, to give added insight into just how much these terribly pretentious shows fail miserably at being anything more than a joke. Also, watch, as Cody spends much of the latter portion of the episode fumbling to find his words, learning that doing a podcast at 4 in the morning is never a good idea…!

Remember that first Fullmetal Alchemist anime? The one that is, thankfully, been rendered obsolete thanks to Brotherhood? Well, The Other Side remembers! They remember all the ridiculous, laughable, even offensive details about that godawful rendition of an amazing manga. From the unfortunate implications of inept dramatic twists, to the director’s apparent vendetta against Rose, to the brain-breaking non-logic behind everything about the Homonculi, Cody and Max leave no stone unturned as they look back and dissect why, exactly, that first Fullmetal Alchemist anime was pure garbage, and why the manga and Brotherhood are the best thing since sex on sliced bread and why everyone needs to go check that shit out like pronto!

What started as a website to catalog recurring elements in fiction, at some point, became the hub for the worst of the worst that fandom has to offer. Especially the anime fandom, which has pervaded that site like all manner of cancer. The story of TV tropes’ downfall into the abyss of becoming the internet’s biggest punchline was just too fascinating–and ripe for mockery–for Cody and Max to ignore. So join the boys as they take their scalpels to this frog of pathetic fanwankery, as they dissect it, find out what makes it tick, and giggle like idiots at how gross the whole thing is.

Alex is gone, but a new co-host arrives to take his place. Max Vader, German connoisseur of the strange and surreal, joins The Other Side as Cody’s new co-host. In his debut episode, Max joins Cody in a look at what is quite possibly the most sick and twisted thing those in the anime fandom must live with; the existence of hentai manga and doujin. When a horny, repressed Japanese artist is allowed to let his fetishes and sexual preferences run wild in an environment without any oversight or scrutiny, what the rest of the world gets is a slew of hornball horrors. Images that will burn themselves in your mind, and haunt your nightmares, all brought to you by people that you know, right off the bat, by virtue of just being a decent person, you are better than them. An underground cesspool of sheer sleaze alleviated only by the fact that, no matter how surreal and disgusting it is, it’s just drawings. It may not do much to help, but at least it’s something…

Everyone needs a break sometimes, and that includes Max and Cody. After dealing with terrible show after terrible show, and fandom bullcrap after fandom bullcrap, the boys decide to take a week off from all that. What better way than to highlight four superb series that everyone should check out, if they haven’t already! 2 from Max, 2 from Cody, the boys of The Other Side decide to play Oprah, with an anime equivalent of a book club! They’d call it an Anime Club, but considering the stigma attached to your typical high school anime club, they’ll stick to comparing themselves to Oprah Winfrey, thank you very much. If you haven’t seen these series, run out and do so. If you have, bask in their glory with us!

The internet has brought us more than plenty of mind-numbing, brain-searing, inexplicably stupid crap. Things that anyone living in the real world would surely think were just satirical. But those of us in the know, well, we know better. As much as we want these things to have been done in jest, they weren’t. Someone made them, or they meant what they said, or they tried to produce something legitimate. And even worse, many times these horrid, moronic pieces of garbage will not only have fan followings, but sizable ones, to boot. One such monolith to unintelligence is Fallout: Equestria. A masterpiece in garbage that manages to both cross over and miss the points of both Fallout, and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It’s a grimdark joke of a story played totally straight for many, many insanely long chapters filled with brutal rape, murder, and a story that’ll make you swear the author was probably drooling on their keyboard half the time. It’s a sight to behold, so Max and Cody are gonna behold the hell out of it for your entertainment!

Japan is not funny. This is a harsh truth many anime fans simply cannot bring themselves to accept. Perhaps some just cannot allow themselves to admit Japan is imperfect, or perhaps it’s because these terrible anime comedies properly pander to them in such a way that they giggle at non-jokes because said non-joke brought up their favorite show. Or maybe their sense of humor is just terrible. For whatever reason, this fact of life has spent far too long simply lingering in the room in the guise of a 500 pound gorilla. With that in mind, Max and Cody discuss a handful of particularly egregious examples, while also taking a look at those few flukes; the rare beast that is an anime comedy that’s roll-on-the-floor funny.