rin and the others should keep him on a leash at the LA olympics

Anime Poll Already?

I am flying through Mashle, so I figure I can set up the next poll.

If you're new here, I'm bad at starting series, finishing series, and making decisions, so Tumblr gets to choose which anime I watch. My pinned post has further details.

As always, propaganda* (*rambles) below the poll. You're welcome to reblog to bully your followers into voting for your fave. Also, you don't have to know me, follow me, like me, or even really like anime if you wanna press a button. Everyone is welcome to throw anime at me.

Propaganda:

crazy how yuri on ice has finally been carried outside and shot in the head like a sickly elderly dog and meanwhile the swimming anime is a 10 year old unkillable roach getting ready for her summer formal

Sports series and their lessons

SLAM DUNK: Ball is life.

HAPPY!: Ball is life and sex workers are great babysitters.

PRINCE OF TENNIS: Ball is life but a big responsibility because you might accidentally cause a mass extinction event.

KUROKO NO BASUKE: Ball is life and fistbumps are dangerously powerful.

FREE!: Water in large quantities destroys lives and the battle between a well-done coming of age story and capitalism and fanservice will give a director no choice but to seek solace in emotional devastation and violent action scenes.

HAIKYUU: Ball is life and volleyball is made up.

REAL: Ball is life and legs are optional.

ROBOTXLASERBEAM: Ball is life and it's important to teach this lesson to robots before their uprising so we have common ground.

YURI ON ICE: Getting shitfaced to meet your idols will only benefit your personal and professional life.

ALL OUT!: Ball is life and if you embrace this you can overcome your physical insecurities.

SK8 THE INFINITY: You don't have to be the best at something if you're enjoying it with someone you love and if there had been skateboarding in England in the 1880s JoJo's Bizarre Adventure would have been much shorter.

OOKIKU FURIKABUTTE/BIG WINDUP: Ball is life and your pitcher's health is paramount because if he is injured you have to take him to the outfield and shoot him like a horse with a broken leg.

TEPPU: There is no point in sports if you don't draw blood and excessive Jean Claude van Damme movies will permanently alter your sexuality.

EYESHIELD 21: Ball is life and Satan rules.

MEGALOBOX: No matter how dystopian the future, people will always want to gamble on the outcome of two men punching each other.

HIKARU NO GO: Ghosts are real.

Autistic Anime Boys Finale

Poll Propaganda:

Haru -

"I mean, obviously he's the autistic boy obsessed with water and everyone knows that, but his whole character arc pretty much stems from this quote he says at the start of the show: "There's an old saying my late grandma taught me. When you're ten, they call you a prodigy. When you're fifteen, they call you a genius. Once you hit twenty, you're just an ordinary person." And if that doesn't scream autistic kid being singled out at a young age and then panicking about not knowing how to deal with the expectations of being older, then I don't know what does.

… But also, yes, he's the water guy. They had to stop him from climbing into a fish tank in a shop one time."

Laios -

"He is the most autistic man ever! He’s obsessed with monsters and eating them (his special interest). He’s not the best when it comes to understanding social cues or people’s feeling toward him. Like one guy fucking hates him and only tries to get along with Laios because he is in love with his sister. Laios thinks that they are friends."

Kaede forgot he was in the "friendship is magic!" anime...

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

I love ship dynamics where

character A is like: I have to catch up with them, it irritates me so much that they are so great, they annoy me so much, how can someone be so good, will I ever be their equal, will I be able to be better than them, I have to emphasize to them at every step that they are my rival, I will strive for their attention in every way, because they have to watch me grow, they have to notice me, OMG why are they so hot and perfect and….

and character B is like: ??? Tf they want from me??

Trust me, Character B. Character A doesn't know it yet either

Well, what occupied your mind in 2013?

Also, do you even know how nice it feels to draw a decade+ old ship you have in a way you WANT and actually kinda ACHIEVE THAT. Last time I drew them was like, legit 10 years ago and my mid teens self would be so damn proud of me now.

Are you a sports manga because you’re gay? Or are you gay because you’re a sports manga?

Dir. Utsumi Hiroko

I just realised that all the media I adore has some level of autistic/neurodivergent coding and it's been that way since I was a child.

And like, oftentimes their different way of perceiving and being in the world is the driving force of the story/and or a crucial element in it.

There’s the canon example of the entire Camp Halfblood (ADHD), where the ADHD is literally what keeps the characters alive.

There's Dean Winchester (ADHD) whose hyperfixations are typically masculine (as well as geeky) and who never sits still, with the added bonus of Castiel (Autism), who Dean just... accepts, in a way I rarely see.

Then there’s the infamous Will Graham (Autism) whose hyperempathy is litterally the focal point of the entire narrative.

We have Haru from Free! (Autism), whose special interest (swimming) is the motivating factor for several other characters.

Reki and Langa from Sk8 the infinity (Autism), who share a special interest and grow a special bond because of it.

There's Sai from Hikaru No Go (Autism), who trancedented time and space to play Go (special interest) and whose special interest sets the story into motion.

We have any version of Sherlock Holmes (AuDHD), who's brilliance I attribute to a mixture of hyperfixations and special interest in crime solving. His conflicts with society and disregard of social norms are a central theme as well.

There's Anne with an E (Autism), who loves words and stories and speaks before she thinks (where all major problems arise due to her lack of understanding for social norms)

We have Pat and Pran from Bad Buddy (ADHD + Autism), like I dunno, I just really felt that vibe.

There's Beth Harmon from Queen's Gambit (Autism) with her special interest in Chess.

And like, the list goes on: Daryl Dixon, Jon Snow, Kotaro from Kotaro Lives Alone, Will Treaty from the Ranger's apprentice, Hal from the same author, Katniss Everdeen, Si-eun from Weak Hero Class 1, etc.

Don't get me wrong I've consumed plenty of stories without characters coded this way, but all the stories that truly resonated with me? Neurodivergent, all of them.

It's probably because the focus on social norms/hierarchy always seemed foreign to me. Eg. I like Skam but it's like a view into a completely foreign world where people function differently.

haruka nanase will always be the funniest sports anime protagonist in my eyes bc the crux of the show and the driving force of the cast is his magical autism. his connection to water is literally just his stim. in the show haru never gives a reason for his love of water beyond “i like how it feels”

he doesnt even give a shit about the actual sport and only chooses to give a shit bc of his separate love for his 17 boyfriends. and those 17 boyfriends will fight to the ends of the earth to explain why haru’s swimming will bring world peace end world hunger and it makes everybody horny immediately

rin matsuoka who has had ambitions to be an olynpic swimmer since before he knew his ABCs literally saw some kid stimming and without knowing anything abt him first was like “omg that guys going to be my consort at tje top of the world” and haru responds with “i hope your bike falls into the river with you in it”