How AKIRA Reshaped Western Cinema and Me

 How AKIRA Reshaped Western Cinema and Me

If you were an 80's or 90's kid with a love for anime, you probably remember Akira...

I do.

But I remember it all.

I was a late-’80s baby, which meant I came up in that narrow window where anime existed—but only barely, and never where it was supposed to. Back then it wasn’t “anime.” It was that weird cartoon from Japan. The thing you got side-eyed for. The thing you learned, very early, not to bring up unless you were prepared to defend yourself or be laughed out of the room.

The Public Humiliation of the Once Incredible Hulk

 The Public Humiliation of the Once Incredible Hulk

There was a time when few characters came close to the strength of the Incredible Hulk...

And when I say strength, I am not talking about raw lifting power alone. I am not talking about holding continents together, resisting planetary-scale tectonic collapse, or punching holes through time itself. Impressive as those feats are, I would argue they pale in comparison to the true core of the character: the strength of Bruce Banner.

K-Pop Demon Hunters is Really Good (And Hollywood Should be Ashamed of Itself)

 K-Pop Demon Hunters is Really Good (And Hollywood Should be Ashamed of Itself)

First, let's get the transparency out of the way...

I’m a 37-year-old, white, American male K-pop stan. And I don’t mean that in the polite, casual way people usually say it—like I throw a playlist on once in a while and nod along. I mean stan in the truest sense of the word. For my favorite groups, I know every member’s name, their roles, their colors, their quirks. I can pick out individual voices mid-chorus, clock an era from a single promo photo, and I have spent an amount of money on merch that some people would call embarrassing—except I’m not embarrassed. I’m genuinely proud of it.